INTERVIEW-Russian car dealer Rolf set to enter Indian market

MOSCOW, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Russia's Rolf Group hopes to start car distribution and retail operations in India this year, banking on the surge in demand from India's middle class, Rolf Chief Executive Officer Nick Hawkins said on Friday.

Rolf, Russia's leading distribution and retail company for foreign cars, opened a branch in India last year and is finalising the list of manufacturers with which it will work there.

"I think by the end of this year we will probably have more tangible operations there... We would probably enter at the same time with retail and distribution," Hawkins told Reuters.

"It's a billion odd people. It's a fantastic market place...but it is a longer-term investment," he said, pointing to the upsurge in demand among the middle class as one of the Indian market's key strengths.

Outside Russia, Rolf currently distributes only Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T: Quote, Profile, Research) cars in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Hawkins said the company was also looking at making a retail acquisition in Kazakhstan and entering another Central Asian market -- Tajikistan -- before the end of the year.

In Russia, Rolf sells 13 foreign car brands through its own retail business, and has recently started distributing cars for Chinese automaker Geely Automobile Holdings (0175.HK: Quote, Profile, Research).

"We would hope to extend that into Central Asia going forward but that is still under negotiation," he said.

Hawkins said Rolf was considering retail acquisitions and setting up regional logistics facilities in the regions of Russia.

"We are looking at two regional dealership acquisitions separate to what is going on in Kazakhstan. We are also looking at doing a much more exciting and bigger transaction in Moscow," he said. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Simon Shuster; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)