Kia's India senior VP Hardeep Singh Brar quits, likely to head BMW India
Hardeep Singh Brar, senior vice president and head of marketing and sales at Kia India Pvt. Ltd, has resigned and is likely to join as the next India president of German luxury carmaker BMW, according to two people directly aware of the matter.
Brar's decision was announced to the head of departments at the South Korean company last week, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
'BMW's current India president Vikram Pawah will move onto a global role. Brar will be taking on the role soon," the first person cited above said.
Also Read | Kia India doesn't expect hybrid incentives, bets on flexible strategy: CEO Lee
BMW India declined to comment. Queries emailed to Kia India on 7 June remained unanswered.
Mint could not independently verify Brar's last day at Kia. However, the second executive said the transition should happen in the next few weeks.
Brar, who joined the Korean carmaker in March 2021, has been in the industry for nearly three decades after starting off as the deputy manager of sales at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd in Chandigarh. He has been part of Volkswagen Group, General Motors India, Nissan Motor Corp. and Great Wall Motor Co.
Also Read | Mercedes, BMW flash warning lights on China
It is unclear who will replace Brar at Kia, which is part of South Korean conglomerate Hyundai Group.
Pawah, who became the India president and chief executive officer (CEO) at BMW in 2020, is said to be moving within the BMW Group to take on a global role. He was previously the CEO of BMW Group Australia and New Zealand.
In a career spanning three decades, Pawah was with Honda Group and Harley Davidson before joining BMW in 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile. It is unclear whether Pawah will head another global unit or be part of the global management team at the Munich-based automaker.
In an interview with Mint earlier this year, Pawah had said that a key plank of growth for the luxury carmaker will be electric vehicle (EV) sales. BMW's total EV sales of 646 cars from January to March accounted for 17% of its overall sales of 3,914 cars in the country.
Also Read | BMW, Toyota aim to make hydrogen-powered EVs mainstream with partnership
BMW's push in the segment comes when there is a slowdown in the global electric vehicle market.
'Many players had set some unrealistic expectations regarding transition to EVs in a short period, which is why there is some disappointment about the pace of adoption," Pawah had said.
The change of guard at the foreign carmakers comes when the Indian auto sector is going through a rough patch. In the financial year 2025, the country's car market grew 2% to 4.3 million.
Kia India's retail sales rose 7% to 241,859 units in FY25. BMW, the country's second-largest luxury carmaker, recorded retail sales of 14,966 units during the year.
The luxury car market grew just 3% to 51,000 units in FY25.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
42 minutes ago
- Time of India
Kaynes Semicon, L&T arm to acquire Fujitsu General's power modules business
Kaynes Semicon and L&T Semiconductor Technologies (LTSCT) are acquiring Japanese Fujitsu General 's power modules business for Rs 118.34 crore. Fujitsu will transfer the business to Larsen & Toubro's fabless chip company and related production facilities to Kaynes, which will in turn manufacture these products for LTSCT, the companies said. The transaction is expected to close on June 23, pending regulatory clearance under Japan's Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act. 'The new OSAT facility being setup in Sanand, Gujarat, is launching its operations with a focus on the global power device packaging market,' Raghu Panicker, chief executive of Kaynes Semicon, told ET. Mysuru-based Kaynes is one of the production contractors for LTSCT. The LTSCT specialises in semiconductor product development, manufacturing, and sales. Kaynes is one of the four companies under the India Semiconductor Mission 1.0 building OSATs in the country. Live Events The deal is part of Fujitsu's strategy to streamline operations within its tech solution business and reinforce its overall business foundation. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Panicker said the deal is supported by two major initiatives: a multi-million-dollar, high-volume service agreement with its customer Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (AOS) and the acquisition of three power packaging lines from Fujitsu Electronics Ltd Japan. 'The partnership with AOS will cover core power devices like IGBTs, power modules and MOSFETs with volumes projected to reach nearly 670 million units annually, while the Fujitsu technology provides immediate capability for high-reliability automotive and industrial-grade power modules, adding a production capacity of approximately 0.6 million units per month,' he said. These moves position the company as a significant new player in the power electronics supply chain , Panicker said. By combining a foundational, high-volume customer with advanced packaging technology and immediate production capacity, the company is poised to meet the surging global demand for power semiconductors driven by the electric vehicles , renewable energy , and industrial automation sectors, he said. This establishes a vital new capability in India's domestic semiconductor ecosystem and addresses the global need for a more resilient and diverse manufacturing footprint for power devices. L&T has invested more than $300 million to create LTSCT. Fujitsu General, in a regulatory filing on Monday, announced the divestiture of its power module business operated by its consolidated subsidiary, Fujitsu General Electronics (FGEL). This transaction is expected to result in the recording of an extraordinary gain of approximately 2 billion yen (about $13.8 million) from the business transfer in the April-June 2025 quarter, it said. Reasons for the Divestiture FGEL's tech solutions division is involved in the development, manufacturing, and sale of electronic devices, as well as the manufacturing of information and communication equipment. The divestiture of the power module business is part of a broader portfolio transformation within the electronic device business, aimed at strengthening the Fujitsu General Group's business foundation, it said.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Diamond trader cheated of Rs 2.7cr by cousin
Surat: Mahidharpura-based diamond trader Parin Doshi (46) lodged a complaint against his cousin Shreyul Shah for cheating him of Rs 2.7 crore. The investigation has been handed over to the Economic Offences Cell of the crime Branch. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now According to the complaint, Doshi, originally from Banaskantha and engaged in diamond trade for 13 years, owns Arihant Enterprise and Arihant Exim. In 2023, his cousin Shreyul proposed starting a polki diamond business, assuring that he would handle all operations while Doshi would only need to invest. The duo agreed to a 50-50 profit-sharing model, though no formal agreement was signed. Relying on familial trust, Doshi invested in the venture. However, between Sept 2023 and Oct 2024, Shah allegedly neither shared profits nor returned the diamonds. Doshi later reviewed records and found Shah owed him Rs 2.7 crore in either money or goods. Some records also bore fake signatures, he alleged. When confronted, Shah threatened to die by suicide to falsely implicate Doshi in a police case.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Provisional merit list for pharmacy intake out
Ahmedabad: The registration process for first-year degree and diploma pharmacy programmes in Gujarat concluded on May 30. With all board results declared, the admissions committee released the provisional merit list on Monday, and began the mock round of choice-filling process. This round will continue till June final merit list and mock round results will be declared on June 17. Admissions will take place for 146 institutions offering 11,684 seats (6,897 govt and 4,847 management quota). Students are advised to fill in maximum choices and not share their login credentials. For this academic year, 15,819 students registered for degree and diploma pharmacy admissions. Of these, 14,604 — 6,582 males and 8,022 females — are on the merit list based on GujCET and board merits. As per current norms, 95% of seats in govt and grant-in-aid institutions, and 50% of seats in self-financed institutions are filled through GujCET. An additional 5% of govt seats will be filled using JEE/NEET scores. The top-ranked student in the GujCET-based merit list is Dhyey Sheth, with a merit score of 99.97. The merit list includes 13,067 candidates from Gujarat board, 1,373 from CBSE, 76 from ICSE and 88 from others. Of these, 2,228 are from general category, 2,879 from EWS, 91 from SC, 4,372 from SEBC, and 1,134 from ST categories.
