Abu Dhabi, home of all things extravagant such as the largest indoor and first Ferrari theme park, can now lay claim to having the world’s largest showroom for BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and BMW motorcycles.
BMW Group’s long-standing importer for the region, Abu Dhabi Motors, invested some AED 300 million (roughly €62 million or US$81 million) in the new 35,000-square-metre showroom over its three-year construction.
The facility features separate showrooms and sales areas for the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce cars, and for BMW motorcycles, with more than 70 automobiles and 10 motorcycles on permanent display.
The dealership also has an extensive range of newer pre-owned vehicles as well as a service area that will be able to perform maintenance on up to 120 vehicles simultaneously.
BMW said that more than 450 staff members will work at the Abu Dhabi facility.
“The Middle East is an important region for the BMW Group. We sold more vehicles here in 2011 than ever before,” said BMW Ian Robertson, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, during the opening ceremony. “There is tremendous future growth potential in many countries in this region and in the United Arab Emirates in particular.”
The BMW Group sold a total of 18,657 BMW and MINI brand vehicles in the Middle East in 2011, recording an increase of more than 9 percent in the region’s 14 import markets.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) accounted for more than 47 per cent of deliveries, with Abu Dhabi and Dubai the largest markets.
And while in other parts of the world, the higher the price of the car, the lower the sales, in the Middle East, we have the exact opposite when it comes to BMW.
The Bavarian firm’s bestselling model in the region last year was the 7-Series with 4,511 vehicles delivered followed by the 5-Series (4,286 units), the X5 (2,620 sales), the X6 (2,510 deliveries) and the 3-Series (2,033 cars).
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