BMW Increasing Focus On India, Sees Growth Potential Amid Low Penetration

Mumbai 

German luxury carmaker BMW is increasing its focus on India, buoyed by the best-ever annual sales in 2022 as it sees huge growth potential for market leadership here given the low penetration.

Driven by the highest ever number of launches, and pent-up demand arising from the pandemic-induced lockdowns, BMW India sold 35 per cent more cars in 2022 at 11,981 units, making it the highest ever deliveries in its history since its entry in 2007.

Its two-wheeler brand Motorrad also had its best-ever sales delivering 7,282 units, a full 40 per cent growth on-year. Though India is likely to overtake Japan to become the third largest auto market in the world after China and the US in 2022 selling more than 4.25 million units, there is nothing to write home about the luxury segment which is just about 1 per cent. Of this, the car volume stood at 3.8 million in 2022, excluding the units sold by luxury carmakers Mercedes, BMW and Volvo, according to data shared by industry body SIAM last week. I am happy that in 2022 India became one of our fastest growing markets in terms of volumesclocking the best-ever sales since our entry in 2007and growth rates for all our brands here. I am pretty confident that India will continue to surprise us in 2023 as well, Jean-Philippe Parain, senior vice-president for Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at the BMW Group, told sources.