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Luxury car maker BMW Group India has said that the supply chain is getting better now, and it will further improve from this month onwards, which helps in the overall sales growth of the luxury vehicles market in the country.
The company reported its best-ever sales in the first half of the year with retail sales of 5,867 units (5,476 BMW cars + 391 Mini cars) and highest-ever motorcycle deliveries (BMW Motorrad) of 4,667 units.
‘Numbers will grow’
“The best part about the first half was we have broken the record of best-ever month, best-ever quarter and broken the record of first half. This shows that the demand side is pretty strong now and as the supply chain catches up in the second half, we will see the numbers growing,” Vikram Pawah, President, BMW Group India, told businessline.
He said 21 per cent of the sales came from online sales during the January-June period this year, and sports activity vehicles (SAV) contributed over 50 per cent to sales volumes. The newly introduced BMW X1 also led the sales in the segment with highest-ever bookings since its launch. As the highest-selling BMW model, it contributed over 20 per cent to sales, Pawah said adding that the newly launched new BMW X5 will further strengthen the SAV sales momentum.
He said with such a momentum and new products line-up, the company will be having a record year in 2023.
EV segment
Talking about electric vehicles (EVs), he said BMW Group India continues its dominance in electric luxury segment with a diverse electric portfolio – the i7, iX, i4 and the Mini SE.
“BMW Group India delivered 11 times more EVs during January–June 2023 than in the same period in 2022. The BMW iX is the best-selling battery EV in Indian luxury car segment. The best charging infrastructure in premium segment at BMW Group dealer network in 35 cities played a vital role. The four EVs contributed to 20 per cent of our total sales in the first half, and the newly launched i7 in February this year (delivery started in April), has also recorded highest-ever sales of the 7 Series,” Pawah added.
Apart from BMW Group India, other two German car makers Mercedes-Benz and Audi have also recorded highest-ever sales in the first half this year. While Mercedes-Benz India sold 8,528 units (against 7,573 units in H1 2022), Audi India sold 3,474 new cars during the period (compared to 1,765 units in H1 2022).
According to Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head, Audi India, the luxury car market in India is estimated to close to around 47,000 units this year, which definitely is all-time high.
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