BMW India posts record car sales at 5,867 units in first half of 2023

New Delhi: German luxury vehicle maker BMW Group on Monday reported a year-on-year 5 per cent growth in total sales of its cars in India at 5,867 units in the first half of 2023, riding on record volumes.

The group also reported an over 50 per cent jump in sales of its premium motorcycles under the BMW Motorrad brand at 4,667 units in January-June period this year.

In the first half of the year, the group sold 5,476 units of BMW branded vehicles and 391 units of MINI, its highest ever half-yearly sales in India.

"The (luxury car) market is finally growing, which all of us expected, but for us, it is also driven by new models that have given us a lot of growth," BMW Group India President Vikram Pawah told PTI in an interview.

He said BMW's growth has come despite facing supply chain restrictions that had continued from last year to the first four months of 2023.

"The first four months of the year, supply was still not there and our new models were yet to arrive. So actually, the real representative of our growth would be to some degree, months of May and June," Pawah said.

From an order intake point, he said,"The first half is also a record year for us with order intake of over 8,000 orders." It is an overall good reflection of the consumer sentiment and the strength of the company's brands.

BMW's sports activity vehicles (SAV) line-up contributed to over 50 per cent of total sales, with the newly launched BMW X1 accounting for over 20 per cent.

Pawah said BMW's electric vehicles comprising models such as the i7, iX, i4 and MINI SE, are also fast gaining traction in the market.

"We sold over 500 cars in the first half (of 2023) which is 46 per cent more than what we sold in the entire year last year...We are the absolute leaders in the premium electric vehicles segment because we have over 50 per cent market share," he said.

The 'luxury class' comprising 7 Series, i7, X7 and XM contributed 20 per cent of total sales in the first half of 2023, Pawah said, adding the "segment grew by over 128 per cent during the period".

Overall, he said,"Our luxury class is growing, battery electric vehicles, which are growing at a fast pace at about 8 to 9 per cent of total sales, and at the entry level, X1 is 20 per cent and the mid segment is over 20 per cent (of total sales), so the balance is good and and all the segments are growing." On the premium motorcycle business Motorrad, BMW said its sales in the first half of the year was driven by 'Made in India' models G3 10R, G 310RR and G 310 GS with a combined share of nearly 90 per cent in its total sales.

Asked about the outlook for the remainder of the year, Pawah said,"It will be even better with supplies becoming normal. We'll be having a record year if all things remain constant in the economy. The demand seems strong, the product line-up is strong, further enhanced by the launch of the new X5 and response is strong."