BMW is among the leading luxury carmakers in India that have electrified their lineup. In fact, the company claims to have more electric car offerings in its kitty than any other brand of its status in the country. For now, these include the BMW iX, the BMW i4, and the BMW i7. From a recent statement of the company’s top executive in India, we now know that BMW plans to further expand this electric vehicle (EV) lineup in the country and fast.
In a recent interaction, BMW Group India President and CEO Vikram Pawah said that BMW is planning to launch a total of 22 products this year. These will include a total of 19 car models and 3 bike models. The latter will be launched under the BMW Motorrad business in India this year. While among the 19 cars, some will be electric in nature, Pawah cleared.
The number builds upon the frequency of product launches BMW has adhered to globally in the past few years. For the 2023 lineup, BMW plans to introduce brand new models in its portfolio, as well as some facelift offerings of its existing lineup. It is believed that the latter will constitute the majority of BMW’s new launches in India this year.
Interestingly, a number of these new automobiles are supposed to be battery-powered. In his interaction, Pawah mentioned that BMW plans to have “12 fully-electric products by the end of 2023.” With this, the target is to achieve about 15 percent of the total sales of BMW through these electric vehicles. What is exciting for BMW fans and EV enthusiasts in India is that the company intends to bring all of these new electric car models to India. Though this will only happen “over a period of time depending upon the supplies and homologation process,” as per Pawah.
The motive is to offer “the widest choice always and keep lead in the electric premium space,” as per Pawah.
Other than the hint at what’s to come, Pawah also shed light on the current sales scenario of BMW in India. He said that there is a demand for 5,500 BMW cars in India at present, with orders already in the pipeline. Out of these, 600 are those for BMW’s electric offerings, meaning the three electric cars that are currently in retail in India. This means that the EV sales for BMW in India already constitute 11 percent of its total vehicle sales in the country.
The group now aims to extend this to 15 percent within 2023, which seems quite doable, considering the orders for the existing electric cars only poured in towards the end of 2022. It remains to be seen what electric car models BMW introduces in the country and how well these manage to excite EV buyers in India.
(With inputs from PTI)
