Just recently TVS had revealed its plans to launch more products in the Indian market, with the focus being on the volume segment. Now the company is all set to announce a strategic partnership with BMW Motorrad. This partnership will lead to a win-win situation for both companies. While BMW will get access to local production and thereby cheaper costs of manufacturing, TVS will benefit from BMW’s motorcycle technology, which will help the Chennai based automaker to become more competent.
This is not the first time TVS is partnering with a global motorcycle company. More than a decade ago, TVS had partnered with Suzuki, resulting in access to technology and the birth of the Fiero 150cc motorcycle, which did decent numbers. However TVS doesn’t plan to take BMW technology and use it in a 200cc motorcycle. Instead the company plans to produce an indigenous product, using its own technology.
“We have plans to go beyond the 180cc segment and would debut a new brand in the domestic big bike segment. We are working on our indigenous technology to enable us to bring the bike in the next 18-24 months,” G.S. Goindi, President (marketing and sales), TVS Motor, said.
With TVS using its own technology, the price of their 200cc+ motorcycle will be more competent. The company has already started work on this big bike, which might make its debut at the 2014 Auto Expo. TVS is also working on a 125cc scooter and will re-launch the Victor in the Indian market. Hero MotoCorp is also working on a bigger motorcycle in the 200-250cc segment.
The success of the Bajaj-KTM partnership has led to other motorcycle manufacturers looking at a similar type of partnership. While TVS battles with Bajaj in a few segments in India, BMW and KTM are neck to neck in market share in Europe. BMW is keen on partnering with TVS, as the makers of the Apache motorcycle are capable of producing good quality products. TVS has received the Deming award for quality, which says a lot about the company.