BMW 7 Series ActiveHybrid coming on July 23rd in India

The BMW 7 Series ActiveHybrid, the first ever hybrid offering from the German car maker BMW, will be launched on the coming 23rd in India.

The 7 Series ActiveHybrid will most likely be offered with a 3.0-litre in-line six-cylinder engine, that churns out 320 bhp of maximum power and 450Nm of peak torque. This twin-turbocharged mighty engine works in conjunction with an electric motor which independently is good for 55 bhp and 210 Nm torque. The unit comes mated to ZF eight-speed autobox, transferring power to the rear wheels. With these power specs, the car sprints 0-100 kmph in just 5.7 seconds, and tops up to electronically limited to 250kmph. Furthermore, BMW claims that the 7 Series ActiveHybrid returns a good fuel-efficiency of 14.7 kmpl. The hybrid saloon gets special displays on the instrument cluster which displays the real-time efficiency and operating status of all hybrid components. The car gets Hybrid badging on the boot, the C-pillar and door sills.

The hybrid saloon will come to India via CBU (Complete Built Unit) route, and will be one of the costliest offerings from the BMW's stable. The saloon is expected to be priced around INR 1.5 crore to INR 1.8 crore. After launching 7 Series ActiveHybrid, BMW plans to bring another hybrid- i8 sports car in India later this year or may be early next year.

Honda was the first manufacturer in India to sell a hybrid car. The Japanese car maker introduced the Civic Hybrid back in 2006, but failed to attract much of buyers in the country, thanks to higher pricing as-well-as heavy cost of ownership. Ultimately, the model was discontinued in 2010. The Indian hybrid market is still in at a very early stage and the Toyota Prius and the Camry-hybrid are the only two hybrid offerings available in the country

Source : CarDekho