Hardeep Singh Brar, President and CEO, BMW Group India
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BMW Group India on Wednesday said that charging infrastructure on the highways are getting better, on top of the increased range in several newer vehicles, which were resulting in the better sales volumes for the electric vehicles (EVs) in the country.For BMW Group India, models like i7 and iX1 are selling better than their internal combustion engine (ICE) with a ratio of 60:40, and may further increase in the future, Hardeep Singh Brar, President and Chief Executive Officer, BMW Group India, said.“We believe in fast chargers and we have put 12 such chargers of 120Kw and above with 720Kw being the highest between Kashmir and Kanyakumari at a distance of around 250kms each. So, I think the most important thing is to focus more on the highways. Sometimes, we tend to focus more in cities, but in cities, there is no problem any more. Most of the commercial and residential buildings have chargers now, and I also feel the charging infra utilisation will be very low in the cities,” Brar told businessline.He said if more chargers are put up on the highways, it’ll give more confidence to customers to buy an EV because that’s where the anxiety is and the anxiety is never inside the cities.Number one luxury EV brandIn terms of retail sales, the company has also become number one luxury EV brand in India with 2,359 EVs delivered to customers during the first half (H1) of this calendar year (January-June).The EV demand has risen exceptionally, growing by 78 per cent year-on-year (YoY) and 69 per cent market share in luxury EVs market.“The EV penetration to total sales stood at 26 per cent in H1 as compared to 18 per cent same time last year, making every fourth car BMW Group India selling an EV, and by end of this year we expect EVs to contibute 28 per cent to our overall sales,” he said.Brar said because of the West Asia crisis and a lot of discussions around fuel prices going up, there was a shift towards EVs. “When you know your fuel prices going up by another ₹7 to 8, there is a bit of an uncertainty among customers to what is going to happen. We also see a lot of diesel customers shifting now (to EVs) because now the range has gone beyond 500kms per charge,” he explained.On asked about ethanol blending and government hinting to go beyond E20, Brar said, “We are very compliant with the E25, so there are customer queries and we are trying to explain to them that we are complying. The only thing we want is a certainty (from the government) on by when they want to go to E30, E40 or flex fuels. I think that clarity is very important. Adhering to regulation is not an issue, it’s how much time you get to adhere to that is a challenge.”Meanwhile, the company reported a record sales of 9,075 units in H1 of this year, a growth of 17 per cent YoY, while in April-June, it delivered 4,507 cars with 17 per cent growth YoY. With such performance, in the H1, the company aims cross annual sales of 20,000 units in India for the first time this year, Brar added.Published on July 8, 2026
