BMW evaluates more battery electric vehicles for India amid growing demand

By Nathan Gomes

BENGALURU (Reuters) - BMW is evaluating the launch of more battery electric vehicles (EVs) in India, amid growing demand from luxury car buyers, Vikram Pawah, country president at the German carmaker, told Reuters in an interview.

"We are going to have 25 electrified products (globally) by the end of 2023, of which half of them will be fully electrified. Our intention is to evaluate each one of those 12 electrified products for the Indian market," Pawah said.

BMW already sells three EVs in India. If supply chain problems ease, which Pawah expects will happen in 2023, EVs could contribute more than 10% of BMW's total sales in 2023.

A shortage in semiconductors and supply chain disruptions due to pandemic-related lockdowns and the Ukraine war have affected car production globally but the situation seems to be easing.

India is largely a small and low-cost car market, in which luxury models accounted for only 1% of the total sales of 3.8 million units in 2022. The luxury EV market is even smaller and largely untested but demand is growing.

BMW, along with rival Mercedes, is looking to capitalize on this demand at a time when Tesla has decided to stay out because of high import taxes on EVs.

Mercedes launched three EVs in India in 2022, including a locally assembled electric model of its flagship S-Class sedan, and expects EVs to make up 25% of its total sales in the next five years.

BMW, which is aiming for at least half of its global sales to be zero-emission vehicles by 2030, expects adoption of clean vehicles in India to be fast, according to Pawah.

In 2022, BMW's total sales in India rose about 35% to nearly 12,000 cars, its highest ever. But it still lags Mercedes, which posted a record year in India with 41% growth in sales with close to 16,000 cars.

 

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditi Shah and Krishna Chandra Eluri)