Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are among our fastest-growing markets: BMW India CEO Vikram Pawah

Currently, BMW Group India offers six EVs in India - BMW i7, BMW iX, BMW i5, BMW i4, BMW iX1, and MINI SE. The range got expanded further with the launch of MINI Countryman electric SUV and BMW CE 04, the first electric two-wheeler by BMW Motorrad India. The new cars were introduced at an event alongside the launch of all-new BMW 5 Series Long Wheel Base, and a new Mini Cooper S, and will be available for booking from September 2024. 

During the media roundtable, the brand specified that despite a global slowdown in EV Sales, BMW is still focused on electric. While at the bottomline EVs only contribute to about 7-10% of the total biz, Vikram Pawah, who is the president and CEO of BMW Group India, points out that the brand could very well attain 30% market penetration in the country in EV by 2030, provided the offerings were made available at all price points and the proper charging infrastructure was in place.

In a conversation with afaqs!, Vikram Pawah explains the intricacies of BMW’s EV biz in India and how the brand’s marketing strategy is adapting to the evolving luxury car segment in India.

Edited Excerpts:

You earlier suggested quite an optimistic future for EV in India, with expectations of 30% market penetration for BMW in the category. What is driving this growth for the brand?

We just crossed 2000 deliveries of our EV vehicles. The biggest selling car for us is iX SUV. We’ve crossed 1000 deliveries of it recently. After that, we have i7, which is the luxury class sedan which just crossed 500 deliveries. You can see the distinct characters of both SUVs and sedans driving this growth for us.  

We also have the i5 M60, which we launched. It's a little bit more on the sportier side because of the M badging. So you're talking about those petrolheads who really love the sheer driving pleasure in a BMW in an electric format. So it's a very diverse set of customers that we are trying to address at the moment through this.

And does that also reflect in your expansion strategy? What is your current retail footprint in India?

Our expansion strategy is based on where the markets are. If you look at it, we have 80 touchpoints in 37 cities across these three brands- BMW, Mini, and Motorrad. We intend to take it up to 90 in 45 cities over the next 18 months. 

And how has the reception been in tier 2 cities and beyond? 

Absolutely fantastic. Tier-2 and tier-3 are the fastest-growing markets for us right now. 

There is also a growing trend of luxury consumers increasingly becoming younger in terms of their demographic. What is your marketing strategy to woo these consumers

56% of the Indian population is below the age of 35 years right now. You're talking about only 44% which is aged above 35 years where the consumption happens. For our goods, the consumption typically happens around 30 plus years. I expect over the next 5 to 10 years, this entire new generation will come into that fold. But the early signs give you a feel that this younger generation is ready to consume at a faster pace and in different formats.

That gives me the confidence that when they come to that sphere where they're looking at luxury goods, they will be looking at much more options. They'll be looking at a much faster adoption rate. They'll be looking at faster changeovers as well.

The audience you cater to is very refined and very affluent. What is your media strategy across your three brands? 

It depends on the category. Within the luxury space as well, you have for example, a 2 Series Gran Coupe, which is addressed to the younger generation; a 7 Series, which is for consumers who have achieved in their life, and many other categories including entry-level luxury SUVs. Depending on that segment, you address the media mix. 

Let's talk about the luxury class, which is the easiest to understand. Print advertising is the way. The reader is aware, well-read, and potentially well-travelled. 

On the other end of the spectrum where you're getting to X1, let's say. Here you want to reach out to the people who are not considering luxury at the moment. So, the strategy is to go a little bit more mass media and digital, to reach out to a wider audience. 

For a lot of luxury consumers, post-purchase experiences are very indicative of their relationships with the brand. What does BMW offer in terms of premium experience?

What works in this category is experience, and the individual connection. We have a thing called BMW Excellence Club, which is an exclusive club for what we call the luxury class customer. There we curate experiences for them that money can't buy. For instance, we get a masterchef from Australia and have a gathering of only 50 people. It is that exclusive experience that people love.

We also do a lot of on-ground activities which are common to the three brands. We used to have a property called Joyfest, where we used to take customers to different towns across the country. It was a festival of all BMW brands. Now we are taking that to the next level. In 2023, we introduced Joytown, where more than automobiles, we want to imbibe ourselves in the Indian culture. And what's the Indian culture all about? It's about food, it's about celebration, it's about luxury, and it's about music. We combine all those four or five elements into one festival. 

We opened up the second version of this in Mumbai. it was a two-evening festival, where 32,000 people bought tickets the tickets. And the tickets were not cheap. So that's the engagement we're talking about. The experience itself is something that's relevant to the consumers, and it comes out in a genuine way.

BMW has had Sachin Tendulkar as a brand ambassador until recently. Why did the brand part ways with the celeb, with apparently no other ambassadors currently in India? And how big is influencer marketing for you?

Sachin is of course a person you can never replace. He probably knows more about BMW than I do. But we've decided as a brand to not go with ambassadors. That isn't to say that we don't have celebrity associations, but they are situational and more tactical.

Also, interestingly, influencers want to associate with us instead of us going to them. This helps the partnerships come across as more authentic. In terms of propagating the message and demonstrating the use cases of the products, influencers can absolutely help the brand reach out to a lot of relevant consumers.