BMW India head Rudratej Singh passes away

BMW Group India head Rudratej Singh breathed his last on April 20 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Singh, 46, who was affectionately called 'Rudy', joined BMW in August 2019 after spending four years with Royal Enfield, rising to the post of global president.

Prior to this, he worked with Unilever in India and international markets for over 16 years. Singh graduated from Delhi University and held an MBA degree in Marketing and Finance from Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad.

Under Singh, BMW managed to beat Mercedes for the first time in seven year in quarterly sales numbers. BMW and group brand Mini sold 2,482 units in Q1 2020 while Mercedes-Benz sold 2,386 units.

In 2019, BMW retained its second position clocking sales of 9,641 units, a drop of 13 percent compared to 11,105 units sold during 2018.

BMW Motorrad, however, continued its winning run in the premium motorcycle segment with sales of 2,403 motorcycles, up 10 per cent as compared with 2,187 units in 2018. In the Q1 of 2020 BMW Motorrad saw sales surge by 72 percent to 1,024 units compared to the same quarter last year.

His demise comes at a crucial junction when BMW Group India was in midst of implementing strategic measures for strengthening the dealer network across India, BMW India said in a release.

Singh passing away takes place less than two weeks after the death of Mihir Dayal, director of sales, BMW India. Dayal succumbed to cancer.

Arlindo Teixeira, Chief Financial Officer, BMW Group India has been appointed as the President (act.) in the interim.