BMW India says committed to green mobility, diesel phase-out depends on demand

Luxury automaker BMW India on Tuesday (September 12) said the company was not dismissing any technology and believes in their co-existence to cater to diverse consumer preferences.

In an exclusive interview with CNBC-TV18, Vikram Pawah, President of BMW India, said the company leads the luxury segment in this domain. Despite this, he noted that 30 percent of BMW's sales still come from diesel vehicles, and the phase-out of diesel cars would be possible on customer demand.

His response came after Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said people needed to move away from fuels such as petrol and diesel. Going a step further, he suggested to union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman that an additional 10 percent GST as a "pollution tax".

However, later in a post on X (formerly Twitter), Gadkari clarified that “there is no such proposal currently under active consideration by the government”.

"Minister Gadkari's intention is to move towards green mobility fast," Pawah said.

With festival seasons soon to arrive, Pawah is expecting a solid double-digit growth. "We are seeing over 5X growth in electric vehicle demand, and have a 50 percent share in luxury EVs."

He also batted for a level playing field on taxation between the mass and luxury segments, saying tax on luxury cars as of now is double that of the mass segment. Pawah said not heard of any proposal to slash duties from 100 percent to less than 20 percent on some imported EVs.