BMW posts record car sales at 9,580 units in India in Jan-Sep period

New Delhi: German luxury vehicle maker BMW Group on Friday reported a 10 per cent rise in total car sales at 9,580 units in India in the first nine months of 2023, driving towards another record sales in the year.

The group's three brands -- BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad (two-wheeler) recorded the best-ever January-September period sales in the country, BMW Group India said.

The BMW brand clocked 8,998 units in the first nine months of the year, up 10 per cent from the year-ago period, while the MINI brand posted 582 units, also at a growth of 10 per cent.

The group's premium motorcycle brand BMW Motorrad registered sales of 6,778 units in the January-September period, rising 26 per cent from the same period a year ago.

"After the first half results, which was the best ever first half in our history, quarter three has been even more promising because we knew that we did all the launches in the first quarter of 2023 and all the suppliers ramp up started from the second half of this year...we have the best quarter three results," BMW Group India President Vikram Pawah told PTI.

He further said, "It shows that the growth is going to be promising, now that the festive season is here and our supplies are back to normal. So we expect really solid growth.

In the first half of 2023, BMW Group sold a record 5,867 cars in India, up 5 per cent year-on-year while registering over 50 per cent jump in sales of its premium motorcycles under the BMW Motorrad brand at 4,667 units.

When asked if 2023 is going to be another record year of sales beating what the company achieved in 2022, Pawah said, "It will be absolutely a record year, that's what we expected when we started the year. It's purely delivering that.

On the reasons for the bullishness, he said, "The demand is robust, the supply situation is getting better. So now you will see it reflected in the delivery figures as well and we expect a solid double-digit growth by the end of this year.

In 2022, BMW Group posted record sales of its luxury cars and motorcycles in India at 19,263 units in 2022. Customer delivery car brands BMW and MINI registered a growth of 35 per cent at 11,981 units last year, while the group's motorcycle arm, BMW Motorrad also posted its highest-ever motorcycle deliveries of 7,282 units, at a 40 per cent growth.

Pawah also said BMW has seen good traction in its electric vehicles clocking cumulative sales of 1,000 units since the company started the deliveries last year.

"That's a big achievement in a very short time and we are on track to deliver 1,000 total electric cars within 2023 itself," he asserted.

The company said it delivered "five times more electric vehicles" during the January-September 2023 period than in the same period of 2022.