Though BMW’s car sales remained lower than 2017, its two-wheeler brand, BMW Motorrad, bucked the trend with best ever sales of 5,191 units.
BMW Group India sold 8,876 cars (including BMW: 8,236 units and Mini: 640 units) in January-December 2021, registering a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 34 percent. The company says that this is the “highest growth it has achieved in a decade”. However, the numbers remained lower than what the automaker has managed in the past few years. The two-wheeler brand, BMW Motorrad, however, managed to buck the trend and doubled its sales to 5,191 units in 2021.
- BMW India sold 8,236 units, while Mini India sold 640 cars in 2021
- With 5,191 units sold, BMW Motorrad saw a 103 percent annual growth
- BMW car sales still lower than 2017 numbers
BMW car sales trend
After a substantially muted 2020, BMW India posted a 35 percent recovery with sales of 8,236 units last year. The continued effect of the pandemic, combined with the semiconductor crisis, meant that despite the uptick, 2021 sales were lower than even 2017 figures. BMW had sold 9,379 cars (+25 percent YoY) in 2017, 10,405 units (+11 percent YoY) in 2018 and 9,000 vehicles (-14 percent YoY) in 2019.
Mini India reported a similar trend. It managed to move 421 units (+17 percent YoY) in 2017, 700 cars in 2018 (+66 percent YoY) and 641 units (-8 percent YoY) in 2019. With COVID-induced lockdowns, sales fell by 20 percent in 2020 (to 512 vehicles), though they recovered by 25 percent (to 640 units) last year. With 2021 continuing to be a turbulent year, Mini was unable to surpass its 2018 record.
Commenting on the performance, Vikram Pawah, president, BMW Group India, said, “Greater flexibility and farsighted planning in business processes ensured that we overcame unpredictable market situations and increased our market share.”
| BMW car sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | BMW (in units) | Mini (in units) | BMW Group (combined) (in units) |
| 2016 | 7,500 | 361 | 7,861 (+14%) |
| 2017 | 9,379 (+25%) | 421 (+17%) | 9,800 (+25%) |
| 2018 | 10,405 (+11%) | 700 (+66%) | 11,105 (+13%) |
| 2019 | 9,000 (-14%) | 641 (-8%) | 9,641 (-13%) |
| 2020 | 6,092 (-32%) | 512 (-20%) | 6,604 (-32%) |
| 2021 | 8,236 (+35%) | 640 (+25%) | 8,876 (+34%) |
Popular BMW, Mini models in 2021
Locally assembled SUVs, including the X1, X3 and X5, accounted for 40 percent of BMW India’s sales in 2021. Without mentioning the stats, the company also notes that the 3 Series and 5 Series remained “strong contributors” in the sedan segment.
2021 saw BMW launch models like the 3 Series M340i xDrive, 3 Series Gran Limousine, 5 Series facelift, 6 Series GT facelift and the M5 Competition facelift in our market. It even forayed into the luxury EV space last year with the BMW iX. Additionally, it rejigged the variant line-ups of a number of models and launched special edition trims for the 2 Series Gran Coupe, 3 Series Gran Limousine, X1 and the X7 M50d.
Coming to Mini, the brand reports that one in every two vehicles it sold in India last year was a locally produced Countryman. The Mini Hatch and Convertible models made up for 18 percent of the sales, each.
BMW Motorrad has its best ever year in India
BMW Motorrad, which debuted in India in 2017, saw its best-ever sales last year. It managed to double its numbers, with 5,191 units sold in 2021. The company says that this is the “highest ever sale by a premium motorcycle manufacturer” in the country. The BMW G 310 R and G 310 GS were the volume drivers, with over 90 percent share in BMW Motorrad’s numbers. The brand says that other models, including the BMW S 1000 RR, BMW R 1250 GS / GSA, BMW F 900 R / XR, BMW R 18 and the BMW C 400 GT scooter, also proved to be popular.
| BMW two-wheeler sales | |
|---|---|
| Year | BMW Motorrad (in units) |
| 2017 | 252 |
| 2018 | 2,187 |
| 2019 | 2,403 (+10%) |
| 2020 | 2,563 (+7%) |
| 2021 | 5,191 (+103%) |
Which BMW launch excited you the most last year? Let us know in the comments below.
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