Moving up from its original agreement of producing sub-500cc bikes, TVS-BMW have reportedly started work on an adventure tourer that will be powered by a 500-600cc twin-cylinder unit.
The first product from the TVS-BMW alliance the G310R is garnering quite the attention and will be testing new waters for both the companies alike in new markets and segments. However, the naked is just one piece of a bigger pie that includes an extensive product lineup in the future. Going by recent reports, the Indo-German alliance has decided to take partnership beyond the 500cc limit it seems and is working on new higher capacity motorcycles in the middle-weight segment.
The report states that TVS-BMW is working on an adventure tourer that is expected to be powered by a newly developed twin-cylinder motor displacing anything between 500-600cc. That said, details on the upcoming tourer are limited at present but as is the case with the G310R, BMW will be looking into the engineering of the motorcycle while the manufacturing aspect is likely to be handled by TVS at its Indian facility.
Extensive localisation will help TVS-BMW keep the prices highly competitive on the adventure tourer with a starting price expected to be around Rs. 6 lakhs (ex-showroom). With development underway, the new model will likely arrive only by the end of next year possibly at the EICMA Motorcycle Show while the launch would be in 2017 or later. Given the flexibility of the platform, the alliance could develop a half-faired or supersport derivative at a later stage to join the middle-weight lineup. The new adventure tourer will be positioned below the BMW F650GS.
Coming back to the BMW G310R, the motorcycle will be making its Indian debut at the 2016 Auto Expo next February where more details on the model and its launch will be revealed. Further, TVS is also expected to showcase its derivative of the G310R based on the same platform (likely with a smaller motor) and will be priced significantly lower to take on the offerings from Bajaj Auto and Yamaha in the segment.
Source – Bloomberg.com
