BMW to launch 10 new cars in India and increase local sourcing to expand luxury car sales

BMW will launch 10 new cars in India this year, including electric cars and the popular MINI brand, while boosting local sourcing to reduce costs as luxury car sales in the country remain stubbornly small, its Indian CEO told Reuters. Still, the German carmaker sold a record 18,000 cars in India in 2025, a growth of 14% from a year ago, closing the gap with competitor and ‘market leader’ Mercedes-Benz.

BMW expects to maintain the same growth momentum this year with 10 new launches and 17 product upgrades, Hardeep Brar said in an interview in Mumbai, adding that more than a third of these will be under the MINI brand.

LUXURY CARS MAKE ONLY 1% OF TOTAL CAR SALES IN INDIAIndia is a fast-growing market for luxury cars, but such premium models represent only 1% of total car sales of over 4 million, mainly due to high import taxes that make prices high.

“The luxury market in general is not growing. If we continue to fight within this 1%, we are not really expanding,” Brar said.

To address this, he plans to launch more models and reduce production costs with locally produced alternatives to imported parts. BMW currently sources about 50% of parts locally – including seats, engines, axles and tires – for cars assembled in India, and Brar is working to increase this, although he did not elaborate.

Last year, BMW began local assembly of its iX1 EV in India – its first foray into an electric model – allowing the company to price the car competitively against petrol models and boost clean car sales by 200%.

EVs MAKE A FIFTH OF BMW INDIA SALES

EVs now make up 21% of BMW’s sales in India, up from around 8% in 2024, prompting the company to evaluate sourcing of EV components such as engines locally, potentially further reducing their costs. Brar said talks were at an early stage.

But to ensure that the growth of electric cars continues and luxury car makers invest in expanding their clean car portfolio, the government must maintain the current tax rate of 5%, compared to 40% and above for petrol cars, he said.

“The overall EV penetration in India is around 4%, but for luxury it is 10%. Therefore, we need this long-term strategy from the government, where the lower tax is maintained for a period of time until EVs can survive on their own,” Brar said.