The German luxury car manufacturer, BMW AG Germany is on the verge of launching its five more new models in the Indian market.

In India, BMW marks its existence as BMW India, the wholly owned arm of the world’s major luxury carmaker.

BMW India has already launched the all-new 7 series sedan and the new 3 Series sedan. The company would also launch two more versions of the 7 series in the coming months.

Moreover, it will also launch SUV X6 and X3 diesel and a new sports model in 2009.

Mr. Peter Kronschnabl, BMW India President said, “We have lined-up ambitious launches for India to increase competition. We are hopeful of becoming the segment leader sometime this year. Besides the 3 and 7 Series, there will be a few more surprises during the year at regular intervals to capture the top slot.”

It seems that BMW India is rapidly closing the gap with luxury car leader Mercedes-Benz in India.

In 2008, it (BMW India) sold 2908 cars as compared to 3625 cars by Mercedes Benz during the same period.

Both the companies have registered robust sales growth in India. Tough sales competition from BMW has forced Mercedes to modify its marketing policy in India where it had enjoyed monopoly for many years.

During the April-December period, the Indian luxury car sector saw a growth of 23% to 6,671 vehicles in spite of 0.5% slowdown in passenger car sales to 11.04 lakh vehicles.

BMW India sold 2,046 vehicles in its debut year 2007, whereas Mercedes-Benz sold 2,395 vehicles in the same year.

After selling comparatively older models in the Indian market for the first 10 years, the company rolled out its highly praised AMG range to add luster to its India product line.

Wilfried Aulbur, Daimler India MD & CEO, the maker of Mercedez Benz, stated, “The year 2009 will be a challenge in view of the current economic situation and increasing competition. The recently introduced AMG range will add dynamism to our brand and help retain our leadership. We will also launch exciting new products in 2009.”

However, the company refused to reveal details of its future launches.