At BMW, first-time buyers take a second hand route
NEW DELHI : Bavarian automobile maker BMW’s India branch, which encompasses the premium two-wheeler brand Motorrad, British premium hatch brand Mini and BMW’s passenger cars, clocked its highest sales in 2023, delivering just over 13,300 cars, a growth of 18% over sales in 2022, and 8,768 motorcycles, 20% more than 2022. However, what shone alongside the growth in sales of BMW’s new vehicles, is its growth in its used car sales, which grew 32% in 2023 to attain their best-ever levels.
“We achieved this by upgrading many near-premium customers to luxury, and by upgrading existing luxury customers to higher brands," Vikram Pawah, president, BMW Group India, said. Used luxury cars are a good alternative for Indian customers, who are known to be conservative when it comes to making big-ticket luxury car purchases, to have a premium car ownership experience.
“Our Premium Selection (BMW’s used cars business) addresses that segment of customers who would normally not come to buy a new luxury car. Fifty-six per cent of new X1 customers are directly entering the luxury fold from the non-premium segment directly into a new car.
But those customers who do not want to migrate directly into those categories, buy sometimes even a used 3 series, or 5 series or 7 series straightaway. So those are the demographics we are looking at.
In addition, we are also targeting those customers who are unsure about being in the premium space—are more conservative—for them to try the luxury ownership experience and then upgrade them to a higher luxury segment," Pawah explained to Mint. In 2024, after a record year of sales for luxury cars in India, BMW is lining up 19 new launches across its Mini, BMW and BMW Motorrad brands, including the new 5
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