BMW Motorrad has decided to develop low-capacity motorcycles as well in order to boost sales. Its alliance with TVS will help it manufacture the same.
Since the past few years, big bike sales have been growing exponentially in India as well as other countries. Out of these bikes, the quarter-litre ones have seen a higher growth as they are a good stepping stone for someone serious about biking. BMW has been a big player in the bike market but their offerings have been in the 600cc + segments till now. But that is about to change very soon as the bikemaker is set to reveal a street-fighter motorcycle codenamed the K03 within the next few weeks.
This year, BMW broke its production record by manufacturing 1.12 lakh bikes in the past one year which is its highest ever. Numbers will further rise once the K03 is released. Designed and engineered by the pioneers at the German brand’s headquarter, the entry-level model will be built by their Indian partner TVS. The Indian company will be responsible for finding cost effective ways of manufacturing the motorcycle without compromising on quality in order to have a low sticker price.
BMW-TVS have been testing the bike since some time now and we reported a few months ago that quite a few bikes have been exported to Germany for testing. The 300cc machine was recently spotted on test in Germany and from what we can see, it will look great to those who like street-fighter bikes. The R&D team of BMW has also assured that although the bike will have lesser power than other bikes from their stable, it will still have the same character to ensure an amazing riding experience.
In order to take benefit of economies of scale and to recover the high development costs, multiple bikes will be released on the same platform. We believe that the alliance will develop bikes of different styles to cater to different segments. This will help them position the bikes easily and market them effectively. The Indo-German motorbikes will make their way to India as they will be built in Chennai itself with the K03 expected to be launched at the 2016 Auto Expo. Oh, and enthusiasts need not worry. BMW will not come up with puny engined scooters!
Source – MotorcycleNews.com