BMW Group India sales grows 11.5% to 4,589 units in January-June 2017

Pre-GST discounts boost volumes for the German luxury carmaker in India

The discounts offered by the company in the run-up to the launch of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime from July 1 boosted the volumes for German luxury carmaker BMW by a healthy 11.5 per cent in the January-June period, to 4,589 units.

The volumes in the first half of calendar year 2017 rose 11.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis to 4,589 units, BMW India, the third largest luxury car maker, said in a statement on Friday.

Vikram Pawah, the recently appointed president of BMW Group India, said the compan is the fastest-growing luxury car brand in the country but its primary goal is to grow the size of the luxury car market in India.

"BMW Group India will move forward with the ‘power to lead’ and continuously remain a value-driven, customer-focused organisation, with a clear goal to be the best, and set a benchmark in the industry in every respect, with passion, performance and excellence. Today, BMW Group India is the fastest-growing luxury car brand in the country but our primary goal is to grow the size of the luxury car market in India. We believe leading the growth is more important than anything, even more than being just number one."

Earlier in the day, Mercedes Benz India, the leader with almost 45 percent of the pie in the luxury car market, reported 18 per cent growth in the April-June period with a volume of 3,521 units. These are the best-ever numbers of the German company here so far.

During the January-June perid, the company sold a record 7,171 units, a growth of 8.7 percent over 6,597 units sold in the same period last year, Mercedes Benz said in a statement.

For the full-year 2016, BMW India had clipped at 14 percent at 7,861 units, while Mercedes sold over 13,231 units, a tad down from 13,502 units in 2015 when it toppled Audi to become the number 1 luxury car brand in the country.