BMW India will keenly watch the sales trend of its BS-VI vehicles over a period of six months. The company has a complete BS-VI range for its petrol line-up and has started the upgrade of its diesel engines with the X1, the 5 Series and the 6-Series Gran Turismo.

“It’s tough to predict when the turnaround will happen. We will be watching the movement of our BS-VI models. We are facing strong headwinds, and there is volatility in the market. The slowdown continues due to structural reforms together with muted customer sentiments,” Rudratej Singh, managing director and chief executive officer of BMW Group India, told The Telegraph.

Hoping that sales will pick up in the later half of the calender year, Singh said: “I am expecting green shoots of a turnaround only in the fourth quarter of the calender year and maybe the first quarter of next year. This year is going to be a grim year.”

Despite huge tax and cess burdens on luxury cars, which Singh called “artificial barriers”, there was enough level-playing field. “Such huge taxes are only a disservice to the segment. These taxes are being levied because they call it a ‘luxury’ segment when it is actually a ‘premium’ segment,” he said.

BMW India has seen an increase in its market share though its sales fell 13.8 per cent in 2019 to 9,641 units from 11,105 units in 2018.

“We were on a product offensive across the globe and we made the entire fresh modern line-up available to all our customers without waiting for the fuel regulation and other norms to kick in.

“We grew our distribution network too, we were the only company to do so in the year of a downturn and falling demand. And all this paid off with a growth in market share,” said Singh.

The company launched a slew of SUVs in 2019 with the X4, X5 and X7 along with the facelifted 7-Series with a plug-in hybrid variant and the new 3 Series and a roadster Z4.

Underlining that BMW would continue with its diesel programme in India, Singh said, “We are giving the choice to our consumers between petrol and diesel powertrains under the new BS-VI regime.”