Porsche to set up facilities in India; to launch sports car in 2009

New Delhi, Dec 4 (UNI) Targeting to double its sales in India, Germany-based premium automaker Porsche today said it will expand its presence in the country with the setting up of showroom-cum-service centres, besides launching a sports coupe in 2009.

The company today launched its first facility here in partnership with Shreyans Motors Private Ltd, with which it has an import agreement.

''India is one of the leading markets for automobile companies. We have sold 200 cars in the last two years and seek to double the sales by next year. We are scouting more sites, including the South, for setting up more facilities. However, we are yet to lay the road map for our plans for the country,'' Porsche Centre India Managing Director Mohamed Rahman told reporters here.

The next six months will be peak time for the company to identify the locations, he added.

The company will be launching one more centre in Mumbai in February next year. The entire investments for setting up the facilities will be incurred by its import partners.

As part of the agreement, Porsche will provide technical tranining, expertise and support to the facilities which will showcase the company's model range.

It also plans to introduce its new sports sedan, Panamera, in India, concurrent to the global launch.

''The Panamera will give a big boost to our sales. It will compete with cars in the luxury segment like BMW, Mercedes and will be priced at around Rs one crore,'' Shreyans Motors CEO Ashish Chordia said.

Porsche has presence in countries like Pakistan, Nigeria, Iran, the US, and UAE with four basic models-- Boxster, Cayman, Carrera, and Cayenne.

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