BMW Group India is set to implement a third round of price hikes this year as foreign exchange volatility and escalating logistics challenges arising from the West Asia crisis begin to pressure the luxury carmaker’s cost structure, even as the company continues to outpace the broader luxury car market with strong electric vehicle-led growth.
“We are increasing prices every quarter. We have already taken two price rises — one in February and the second in April. We will take another price rise, anywhere between 2-3 per cent, because of the current forex situation. This price rise is expected anytime soon,” Hardeep Singh Brar, President and CEO, BMW Group India told businessline during an exclusive interaction. Singh was in Surat on Tuesday to launch the MINI Cooper S GP Inspired Edition that costs ₹58.9 lakhs (ex-showroom).
The German luxury carmaker had implemented a 2-3 per cent price increase in January 2026, followed by another two per cent hike effective April 1. Brar said BMW India remains heavily dependent on imports, making the company vulnerable to currency fluctuations and global freight disruptions. “We are heavily dependent on imports and for us there will be a price rise,” he said.
The comments come amid growing concerns across the auto industry over shipping disruptions in the West Asia region, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz.
“Right now we are sorted because we have stocked up kits. But if this continues for another three-four weeks, we will start having delays. Some of the completely built units for us are also stuck in the region,” Brar said. BMW has already started re-routing shipments to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, although the alternative routes involve longer transit times and higher freight expenses. “The new route takes a longer time and will incur more logistics cost,” he added, while noting that logistics costs have not yet materially escalated.
Strong demand in EV segment
Despite the macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds, BMW India continues to see strong demand momentum, particularly in electric vehicles (EVs) and younger customer segments. “Last year EV constituted 21 per cent of our total sales. In the first quarter of the calendar year 2026, it is already 26 per cent. The demand is more, but there is a supply constraint,” Brar said.
The company is currently witnessing waiting periods of up to two-three months for electric models due to supply shortages. “We are not able to supply so much as we did not anticipate it will grow to this extent,” he said.
Brar said EV demand in Gujarat has improved significantly after the state rationalised taxation on electric vehicles. BMW India is also seeing rising traction from non-metro luxury markets such as Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara. “The luxury car market is about 1 per cent of the overall market. If you look at Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara, it is almost 3 per cent of the market,” Brar said. “It clearly shows that consumption of luxury vehicles in these bigger towns is much better than the rest of the market. It is why we were motivated to bring in the MINI to add to the luxury quotient in Surat,” he added.
The company on Tuesday launched the MINI Cooper S GP Inspired Edition in India at the newly inaugurated MINI Eminent Cars dealership in Surat. Limited to 30 units, the model is priced at ₹58.9 lakh (ex-showroom) and will be imported as a completely built-up unit (CBU).
BMW India also highlighted the increasing share of younger buyers in the luxury car market. “The average age of our customers is going down, especially that of our MINI customers. A large percentage of our customers is in the 30-40 age group,” Brar said.
Localisation
On manufacturing and localisation, Brar said BMW is not immediately looking to deepen localisation levels beyond the current threshold of around 50 per cent. “For the time being we are not looking to increase localisation. From a luxury viewpoint, 50 per cent localisation is pretty strong. But as and when we find an opportunity from a local vendor, we will look at that,” he said.
At the same time, BMW India has significant unused manufacturing capacity at its Chennai plant. “The actual capacity of our Chennai plant is 50,000 units. We are utilising less than 20,000-unit capacity. So we have sufficient capacity for expanding in the same plant,” Brar said.
BMW Group India sold 18,001 vehicles in the calendar year 2025, registering 14 per cent growth over the previous year and outpacing the broader luxury car market. The company sold 4,567 cars in the first quarter of calendar year 2026, achieving growth of 17 per cent year-on-year. “We grew by 14 per cent last year and 17 per cent in the first quarter of the calendar year 2026. The overall car market is not growing at this rate,” Brar said. While the broader luxury segment has remained relatively flat this year, BMW continues to gain market share due to its expanding product portfolio and electrification push, he added.
India currently ranks among BMW’s top 20 markets. “We want to enter the top 10 markets. How we play the game is up to us; how we bring in more models,” Brar said. However, he cautioned that sustaining current growth levels may become challenging amid rising geopolitical and economic uncertainties. “We are growing at 17 per cent. That is a good rate and we will see if we can sustain that because there are a lot of headwinds as of now. With all the challenges around, we will be happy to continue with this growth,” he said.
Published on May 19, 2026