EV Production In India Just A Matter Of Time: BMW

With the rise in electric vehicle (EV) adoption in India, local production of its electric cars in India is just a matter of time, according to German carmaker BMW.

BMW Group India President Vikram Pawah told news agency PTI that EVs had 9% share in its sales in the country in the first half of 2023 and he expects it to go up to 25% by 2025.

“As the volumes grow, as we have done with every other product, we will localise them (EVS), and we will produce them (locally),” Pawah told the news agency in response to a question about local production.

”It is just a matter of time. There has to be some inertia of the volumes and stability. We’re seeing good signs now. It’s still early days…We have delivered only 500 cars across four models in the first six months, that is still small from that perspective, but it is clearly growing fast,” Pawah said.

BMW sold over 500 cars in the first half of 2023, which is already 46% more than what the company sold in 2022. In the premium electric vehicles segment, BMW has over 50% market share, Pahwa claimed. The company’s iX is the best-selling battery electric vehicle in the Indian market, he added.

BMW is already on generation five batteries and it is working on generation six. “So we’ll make a decision about what is the right time, which one to localise at which time…It will be soon,” Pahwa said.

BMW’s EV push could be a good boost for the Indian EV market, which houses various small as well as large EV startups.

The Indian EV car market currently has the presence of players like Hyundai and Tata. Toyota-backed luxury carmaker Lexus is looking to launch its first EV in India by 2025, while Ola Electric also aims to come out with its cars.

The latest development comes at a time when Elon Musk-led Tesla has changed its plans for India and is now looking at manufacturing electric cars in the country.