One out of every four vehicles sold by German luxury car maker BMW in the Indian market will be electric within the next two years, a top company executive said, citing better-than-expected demand. BMW Group India President & CEO Vikram Pawah said electric vehicles currently comprise 10% of overall sales at the company and expects this to go up to 15% in 2024 and to 25% by 2025.
“We have the widest portfolio of electric vehicles in the country with five distinct offerings. We have seen strong demand for electric vehicles and will continue to launch more products in this space to consolidate our leadership position”, Pawah told ET.
The German carmaker currently dominates the luxury EV market in India with a share of over 48%, and ahead of rivals Volvo Cars India, Mercedes Benz India and Audi India. The company sells five electric vehicles – i4, i7, iX, iX1 and Mini Electric – and recently crossedthe milestone of selling 1000 EVs in the country.
Pawah declined to specify details of the new electric vehicles the company is planning to launch in the country in mid-term. Globally, BMW is set to launch 12 full electric vehicles by 2025.
Pawah said customer sentiments in the luxury vehicle segment remainstrong. “We recorded our best-ever monthly sales of 1,439 cars inSeptember. We expect the momentum to continue and are on-track toreport record sales for the full year”, he said.
BMW clocked its best-yet sales in the Indian market last calendar year at 11,981 units. The company had previously posted its best annual sales in 2018 when it sold 10,405 cars in India.
In the first nine months of the ongoing calendar year BMW India recorded a growth of 10% to sell 9,580 vehicles. Sales of premiummotorcycles at the company too grew at a fast clip, by 26% to 6,778 units, between January and September 2023.
Within the luxury vehicle segment too, sales of top-end vehicles priced upwards of Rs 1.5 crore like BMW X7, BMW 7 series, BMW iX and BMW XM have been growing at a faster pace. Sales in this category more than doubled in the period under consideration to contribute to a fifth of total sales in the company.
Additionally, new models like the X1 have helped draw in first time buyers, expanding the luxury vehicle market, Pawah said.
Luxury vehicle makers are, in fact, expecting to end the year with best-ever sales in India in CY2023. The peak annual luxury car sales recorded in the country so far is only about 40,000 units in 2018. To tap into the potential, BMW India will introduce a total of 19 vehicles and 3 motorcycles in the market in the ongoing calendar year. By Sharmistha Mukherjee
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/renewables/one-of-every-four-vehicle-sold-in-india-to-be-an-electric-car-bmw/articleshow/104404752.cms
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