BMW crosses 20% EV sales in India; New buyers of luxury items are driving demand

German luxury car maker BMW has generated more than a fifth of its sales from electric vehicles through September this calendar year, with almost half of demand for the company’s entry-level electric SUV coming from entry-level luxury car owners, indicating increasing adoption of e-mobility among buyers at the top end of the market.

Hardeep Singh Brar, president, BMW Group India, said that with better range and prices of electric vehicles almost comparable to petrol and diesel counterparts, the company was seeing increased interest among its customers for BEVs.

“For customers looking for a vehicle for daily commuting within cities, electric vehicles make a lot of sense given their lower operating costs. We are seeing strong interest among our buyers and expect 30% of our sales to come from BEVs in the next two years,” said Brar, adding that as the spread of charging infrastructure improves, sales will pick up further.

BMW India sold 2,509 electric cars (BMW and MINI badged) between January and September this year – a 246% growth over the same period last year. The company, which offers six electric vehicles in the local market, has a 60% share in the luxury BEV segment.

Mercedes Benz India is also seeing healthy growth in electric vehicle sales, with penetration of total sales almost doubling to 8% in the past year. Santosh Iyer, managing director at Mercedes Benz India, said the company’s electric vehicle sales grew 10% last quarter. The range-topping G 580 Edition 1 with EQ technology has already sold out this year and bookings are now open for the next round of deliveries.

Overall, electric vehicle penetration in India’s passenger car market stood at 5.1% in September, data from the FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations) showed. However, the share of electric vehicles in the luxury segment is much higher, more than double that in the mass segment. Turning to consumer demand in the overall luxury vehicle segment, Brar said consumer confidence has improved significantly since the tax cuts announced by the government. “As of October 1, we had more than 2,000 open orders. We have registered strong growth in our portfolio and expect to grow at healthy double digits in 2025. Also, the growth rate in the sector should be 3-4% higher than what was expected at the beginning of the year,” he said. BMW India reported 13% growth, selling 11,978 cars in the first nine months of the year. By 2024, luxury car sales in India grew around 8% year-on-year to 54,000 units. The higher end cars currently have just over 1% market share in India – the lowest among major economies. However, industry experts say the country offers ample growth potential as it is home to one of the largest numbers of billionaires in the world.

Between 2023 and 2028, India is expected to see the largest increase of any country in the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) – with a net worth of $30 million or more – as shown in Knight Frank’s flagship study, ‘The Wealth Report 2024’. The number of ultra-rich Indians is expected to rise by 50% to 19,908 in 2028, from 13,263 in 2023. India will be followed by China (47%), Turkey (42.9%) and Malaysia (35%), according to the report.