As the volume increases, BMW Group India, which has been leading the premium electric car market in the nation for the last two years, will localize its electric vehicle (EV) portfolio, a senior company official said.
The company sold 1,474 electric vehicles in 2023, an increase of 325% year over year (y-o-y) over the approximately 347 units shipped in 2022. Five fully built-up (CBU) models the BMW iX1, BMW i4, BMW iX, BMW i7, and Mini 3-Door Cooper SE are part of its electric lineup. Over 10% of the company’s highest-ever yearly automobile sales in 2023 were electric vehicles (EVs; 13,303 units for BMW and 869 units for Mini).
BMW EV Market
The first complete year that EVs were sold in the nation was 2023. We’ve managed to get 10% of our sales from electric vehicles. Thus, like with any other product, we now anticipate that we will begin considering when to localize as the volume increases. Thus, it is only a question of time.” However, in terms of our entire localization approach, 90% of the goods we sell in India are made locally and have 50% localization content.
As evidenced by BMW‘s performance in 2023, sales in the premium market are more evenly distributed than in the mass segment, where sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are dominating and sedans are steadily declining.
The SUV category made up 54% of the company’s volume, whereas the sedan category made up 46%. With 2,633 units sold, the X1 was the best-selling SUV, followed by the X7 with 1,513 units. With 2,702 sales, the 3 Series was the best-selling sedan, followed by the 6 Series with 1,453 sales. 54% of the company’s overall volume consisted of gasoline-powered models. In 2023, the percentage of diesel cars dropped from about 65% five years earlier to 36%. Although the market for premium cars saw its greatest-ever yearly volume in 2023 nearly 41,000 vehicles beating the previous record of almost 40,000 units in 2018.
