German luxury carmaker BMW has recorded more than a fifth of its sales from electric vehicles till September this calendar year, with nearly half the demand for the company’s entry-level electric SUV coming in from first time luxury owners, indicating increasing acceptance of e-mobility among buyers at the upper end of the market.
BMW Group India President Hardeep Singh Brar said with better range and prices of electric vehicles almost at par with petrol and diesel counterparts, the company saw increased interest among its customer set for BEVs.
“For customers looking at a vehicle for daily commute within cities, electric vehicles make a lot of sense given lower running costs. We are seeing a lot of interest among our buyers and expect 30% of our sales to come in from BEVs in the next two years”, Brar said, adding as the spread of charging infrastructure improves, sales would pick up further.
BMW India sold 2,509 electric cars (across BMW and MINI badges) between January and September this year - a growth of 246% over the same period last year. The company, which has on offer half a dozen electric vehicles in the local market, has a share of 60% in the luxury BEV segment.
At Mercedes Benz India too, electric vehicle sales are seeing healthy growth with penetration in total sales nearly doubling to 8% over the last one year. Santosh Iyer, managing director at Mercedes Benz India, said the company’s electric vehicle sales grew 10% last quarter. The top-end G 580 Edition 1 with EQ Technology is already sold out for the year and bookings are now open for the next slot of deliveries.
Overall, in the passenger car market in India, the penetration of electric vehicles stood at 5.1% in September, FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations) data showed. The share of electric vehicles in the luxury segment though is much higher, more than double of that in the mass segment.
As regards consumer demand in the overall luxury vehicle segment, Brar said consumer sentiments have improved significantly since the tax cuts announced by the government. “We had more than 2000 pending orders on Oct 1. We have been registering strong growth across our portfolio and expect to grow in healthy double-digits in 2025. The growth rate in the industry too should be higher by 3-4% over what was expected at the start of the year”, he said. BMW India reported a growth of 13% to sell 11,978 cars in the first nine months of the year.
In 2024, luxury car sales in India grew by about 8% year-on-year to 54,000 units. The high-end cars currently have a little over 1% market share in India—the lowest among major economies. Industry experts, however, said the country offers ample growth potential, given it is home to one of the highest number of billionaires worldwide.
Between 2023 and 2028, India is expected to see the highest increase for any country in the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs)--with a net worth of $30 million or more--as per Knight Frank’s flagship study, ‘The Wealth Report 2024’. The number of ultra-rich Indians is expected to surge by 50% to 19,908 in 2028, from 13,263 in 2023. India will be followed by China (47%), Türkiye (42.9%) and Malaysia (35%), according to the report.
BMW Group India President Hardeep Singh Brar said with better range and prices of electric vehicles almost at par with petrol and diesel counterparts, the company saw increased interest among its customer set for BEVs.
“For customers looking at a vehicle for daily commute within cities, electric vehicles make a lot of sense given lower running costs. We are seeing a lot of interest among our buyers and expect 30% of our sales to come in from BEVs in the next two years”, Brar said, adding as the spread of charging infrastructure improves, sales would pick up further.
BMW India sold 2,509 electric cars (across BMW and MINI badges) between January and September this year - a growth of 246% over the same period last year. The company, which has on offer half a dozen electric vehicles in the local market, has a share of 60% in the luxury BEV segment.
At Mercedes Benz India too, electric vehicle sales are seeing healthy growth with penetration in total sales nearly doubling to 8% over the last one year. Santosh Iyer, managing director at Mercedes Benz India, said the company’s electric vehicle sales grew 10% last quarter. The top-end G 580 Edition 1 with EQ Technology is already sold out for the year and bookings are now open for the next slot of deliveries.
Overall, in the passenger car market in India, the penetration of electric vehicles stood at 5.1% in September, FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations) data showed. The share of electric vehicles in the luxury segment though is much higher, more than double of that in the mass segment.
As regards consumer demand in the overall luxury vehicle segment, Brar said consumer sentiments have improved significantly since the tax cuts announced by the government. “We had more than 2000 pending orders on Oct 1. We have been registering strong growth across our portfolio and expect to grow in healthy double-digits in 2025. The growth rate in the industry too should be higher by 3-4% over what was expected at the start of the year”, he said. BMW India reported a growth of 13% to sell 11,978 cars in the first nine months of the year.
In 2024, luxury car sales in India grew by about 8% year-on-year to 54,000 units. The high-end cars currently have a little over 1% market share in India—the lowest among major economies. Industry experts, however, said the country offers ample growth potential, given it is home to one of the highest number of billionaires worldwide.
Between 2023 and 2028, India is expected to see the highest increase for any country in the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs)--with a net worth of $30 million or more--as per Knight Frank’s flagship study, ‘The Wealth Report 2024’. The number of ultra-rich Indians is expected to surge by 50% to 19,908 in 2028, from 13,263 in 2023. India will be followed by China (47%), Türkiye (42.9%) and Malaysia (35%), according to the report.
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