German luxury auto maker BMW plans to introduce 19 car models, including electric vehicles, in India this year as it looks to sustain double- digit sales growth in the country, a top company official said on Monday. The car maker, which expects 2023 to be the best for it in terms of sales in the country so far, also aims for electric vehicles to account for about 15 per cent of its overall sales this year.
The group also plans to introduce three bike models under the BMW Motorrad business in India this year. "We are going to launch 22 products which includes 19 cars and three bikes during this year," BMW Group India President Vikram Pawah told PTI in an interaction. It would be a mix of all new product introductions and facelifts of existing model range, he added.
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The company has been launching over twenty products a year for the last few years, Pawah said, adding, "two-third of our volume will be either new or refreshed products which is probably for the first time that so much of the product is changing in one year itself". Further, Pawah said that in the eight weeks between December last year and January this year, the company introduced eight products, and it has been able to create a demand and an order pipeline of 5,500 cars and 4,500 bikes.
According to him, BMW is the only company having four distinct electric models in the country. "So, out of the 5,500 total demand we have created for cars, 600 is for electric range. So, it is already crossing the 11 per cent mark. By the end of the year, we will touch 15 per cent," Pawah said.
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He noted that the company will continue to lead in the segment and keep introducing models at regular intervals. "Globally, we will have 12 fully-electric products by the end of 2023. We intend to bring them all to India over a period of time depending upon the supplies and homologation process. So, clearly we will have the widest choice always and keep lead in the electric premium space," Pawah said.
The company will also keep introducing petrol and diesel cars while expanding its pure battery electric range in the country. Pawah said the demand for premium cars is on the rise in the country. "Demand for luxury cars continues to be very strong in India. We are not seeing any dampening of the demand. Other countries in the world might be facing other challenges but we think India will pass very strongly in this space," he stated.
The company saw its car sales grow 35 per cent last year as compared with 2021. On whether the company aims double digit sales growth this year as well, Pawah said, "of course, double-digit always. India has to be a double-digit growth (market). What kind of double-digit it would be, we would share that towards the end of the year."
Supply chain challenges remain which the company is managing even as the demand side remains strong, he said. "June onwards things should start looking much much better (in terms of supply constraints)."The company reported sales of 11,981 cars last year.
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