2019 was a difficult year for the Indian automotive industry and despite quite a few new car launches, the sales charts haven't exactly been on fire, especially in the luxury end of the market. BMW Group India (which comprises of BMW and Mini) recorded cumulative sales of 9,641 units over the calendar year. The figure is 13.1 percent down on 2018's record of 11,105 units, and also lower than the 9,800 units sold in 2017.
BMW sold 9,000 units in the period (down 13.5 percent on 2018’s sales of 10,405 units). Interestingly, three locally assembled SUVs - the X1, X3 and X5 contributed 50 percent to BMW’s sales in 2019. The 3 Series and 5 Series sedans also made a “significant contribution” to the numbers. BMW had a busy 2019 that saw the market introduction of the M5 Competition, the seventh-generation 3 Series, the 7 Series facelift, the X7 (its new flagship SUV), the all-new X5, a new diesel variant of the 6 Series GT, the all-new Z4 and the X4 SUV-coupe.
BMW will be looking to better it's performance in 2020 and has lined-up a couple of launches including the next-gen M3 and M4, 2 Series Gran Coupe and 8 Series Gran Coupe, along with SUVs like the X1 facelift, X2 and the X6.
Mini sold 641 cars in 2019, down on 2018’s tally of 700 units. The Cooper hatchback and Countryman crossover accounted for 70 percent of Mini India’s 2019 sales.
BMW's two-wheeler division, BMW Motorrad, saw a slight increase in sales over the year. It sold 2,403 units over 2019, up on 2018's figure of 2,187 units. While the entry-level BMW bikes - the G 310 R and the G 310 GS - contributed to 85 percent of overall sales, the R 1250 GS / GSA, F 750 / 850 GS and the S 1000 RR brought in the rest of the sales.
BMW is likely to retain its position as India’s second best-selling luxury carmaker in India, behind Mercedes-Benz that is yet to officially announce 2019 numbers. Among the luxury carmakers, Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, Lexus and Volvo are also expected to reveal 2019 sales numbers in the days to come.
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Uday Singh
Suraj Viswanathan
