BMW and TVS have been working on a new bike codenamed K03 together. Now, several units of the bike have been exported to Germany for further testing and fine tuning.
The BMW-TVS partnership created a stir in the automotive industry when it was announced. Since both the brands were catering to different ends of the motorbike segment, it was a unique collaboration. The brands declared that the first project they would be undertaking together would be a sub-500cc entry-level performance bike since the segment lacks choices and has immense growth potential. BMW’s technical expertise and TVS’ low-cost yet high-quality manufacturing would help in producing advanced bikes at a relatively lower price making it accessible to many.
The first bike under development currently is the K03 (codename) which is a naked street-fighter. The bike is supposed to be revealed later this year and hence testing the machine is of paramount importance currently. In order to test the motorcycle in an altogether different environment, BMW-TVS have exported 12 units of the bike to Germany from India. As this would be a global product, it needs to be tuned according to the conditions in other countries too. Since the bike is being manufactured completely in India, it shows that high-quality products can be made in our country too in line with the ‘Make in India’ campaign.
BMW has also clarified that the bikes would be developed completely by their team of technical experts and that TVS would be looking at cost-effective manufacturing methods. This would help the Munich-based automaker benefit from low-cost manufacturing for various bikes made for global markets and the Chennai-based manufacturers would be able to gain some technical knowledge. Using the same platform and engine, TVS too would be launching a few bikes. Knowing how awesome the current lineup of BMW bikes is, we can’t wait to lay our hands on the first bike from this alliance.
Source – Zauba.com