According to Bloomberg, BMW is planning to expand its operations in India's thriving electric vehicle market, aiming to attract high-end customers while responding to the growing interest in clean energy.
Vikram Pawah, the CEO of BMW India, stated in an interview on February 2nd that the company anticipates electric vehicles to constitute 25% of its sales in India by 2025. In 2023, BMW sold 1474 electric vehicles in India, accounting for 10% of its total sales in the country.
Despite introducing pure electric vehicles in India just last year, BMW has become the automaker with the most electrified models in the market, offering a total of five electric models.
While the electric vehicle market is growing in India, it remains relatively small. Given limited charging infrastructure and price-sensitive consumers who, without subsidies, remain cautious about purchasing expensive battery-powered cars, only 2.3% of total passenger car sales in India were electric vehicles last year, according to BloombergNEF data.
However, with the slowing demand for electric vehicles in Europe and the United States after several years of rapid growth, global automakers are turning their attention to the emerging market of India.
Ashish Gupta, the Head of Passenger Cars at Volkswagen AG's Indian division, also stated on the same day that electric vehicles would be Volkswagen's "main focus" this year. Volkswagen plans to introduce fully assembled electric vehicles in India initially, followed by assembling more high-end electric vehicles. He expects Volkswagen to start manufacturing electric vehicles in India only after reaching a market turning point around 2026.
Last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that Tesla might make a "significant investment" in India and planned to visit the country later this year.
Furthermore, BMW plans to launch 16 new models in India by 2024 and expand its dealership network to 39 cities in the next three years. Pawah mentioned that BMW currently has no plans to invest in building more factories.
