Not keen to invest under new EV policy: BMW

NEW DELHI: German luxury carmaker BMW has said that it is not keen to invest under the electric vehicles manufacturing policy announced by the govt earlier this year as it doesn’t provide a level-playing field and fails to consider past investments made by companies in the country.
“While the policy is great as it encourages electric vehicles, it ignores companies who have been in the market for a long time,” BMW India president Vikram Pawah told TOI.
Pawah said the policy should have acknowledged companies, which have been early investors in India, and thus stipulated separate investment norms for them against what is prescribed for new entrants.
“The threshold for investment should have been different for a new player versus someone who has already been here. We want our previous investments to be recognised… We need a level-playing field.”

BMW joins a growing list of companies that have refused to participate under the new EV policy, which was announced by the govt in mid-March with much fanfare, mainly to attract American Tesla. However, while Tesla continues to play hard ball and has made it clear that its India plans will take time, other multinational companies have also not warmed up to the new EV policy under the present conditions and these include Hyundai and sibling Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Toyota, Honda Cars, and the Stellantis group.
Faced with the industry’s cold response, the govt is considering making changes in the policy to make it more lucrative for companies to participate, and certain amendments may come in soon.
BMW, which has invested 182.5 million euros (Rs 1,250 crore) in India since beginning operations in 2007, has been importing electrics to India and the cars include i7, iX, i4, iX1, and Mini Cooper SE.
Pawah said the company has sold around 2,000 electric cars over the past two-and-a-half years, which is roughly 10% of the total cars it sold in the period. Asked whether the company plans to assemble some of the models locally, he said that it is on the cards. “It is a matter of time, and may happen sooner rather than later… We see that the govt is serious about promoting EVs, and wants them to take off.”
The BMW president also said that the company’s assembly operations in India give it the flexibility of making vehicles of any fuel type – petrol, diesel, hybrids and/or electrics.