BMW India registers 25 percent growth in 2017, delivers best ever performance in a calendar year
BMW India has clocked its best performance ever in a calendar year by selling 9800 cars in 2017, which includes cars from BMW and Mini brands both. BMW claims this is a growth of 25 percent for the group over 2016. BMW also formally commenced operations of BMW Motorrad in India in 2017 and apart from the 9800 cars, it sold 252 motorcycles in India in a time span of nine months.
BMW Motorrad is known for its tech-laden, super premium motorcycles and while the brand was present in India through private importers earlier, 2017 saw BMW Motorrad launch its range of motorcycles in India officially, including popular models like the S 1000 R, S 1000 RR, R 1200 GS, S 1000 XR and more. Driving sales for BMW Motorrad in its debut year was the significant correction in the pricing of the bikes, as the motorcycles were a lot more expensive previously.
As far as the cars are concerned, BMW India sold 421 Minis in India in 2017 as compared to 361 in 2016 to register 17 percent growth and claims Mini is now the leading small-premium car brand in the country. The models on sale include the Mini Cooper S, Mini Cooper D, Mini Cooper S Convertible, Mini Countryman and the Mini Clubman. For the BMW brand the growth in sales was driven primarily by its SUVs â€" the new generation X1 as also newer variants of its full-sized luxury SUV, the X5. Another major sales driver for BMW in the second half of 2017 was the launch of the all-new 5 Series, a midsize luxury sedan that has always enjoyed immense popularity with luxury car buyers in India.
BMW is expected to continue with its aggressive product launch strategy in 2018, and will be launching a slew of cars and motorcycles this year, some of which will get launched at the upcoming 2018 Auto Expo. These include the new generation BMW 6 Series GT, new generation BMW M5, the BMW i3S as also motorcycles like the BMW F750GS and the BMW F850GS.