Reference Auto

Buoyed by its luxury car sales, German automaker BMW is bringing its premium bikes to India again by December through its global motorcycle venture, BMW Motorrad. The automaker had a bitter experience during its first innings in India in the 1990s. But today, the scenario is completely different.

Forget luxury bikes, the pace at which sales of superluxury cars are moving is really amazing. It’s another India altogether.

Recently, Bugatti realised India’s potential and rolled out its Veyron for a cool Rs 16 crore! But the luxury motorcycles market is different (it’s still at a nascent stage in India) and the BMW premium bikes are expected to be priced around Rs 18 lakh onwards.

In a release issued in Munich, BMW said it has appointed two official importers for its bikes, which include Deutsche Motoren in Delhi and Navnit Motors in Mumbai and Bangalore.

Hendrik von Kuenheim, general director, BMW Motorrad, said, “The BMW Group has already established itself successfully in India with a local BMW automobile production and a sales network for BMW Group automobiles.”

In the recent past, the superbikes segment in the country had grabbed the eyeballs of many global two-wheeler majors including Yamaha, Harley Davidson, Honda, Ducati and Suzuki, which have launched their machines in the country. For instance, Harley-Davidson, which began its India operations in August 2009, has 12 models in the price range of Rs 6.95 lakh to Rs 34.95 lakh.

The price of these luxury motorcycles range between Rs 7 lakh and go up to a whopping Rs 50 lakh, even though less than 1,000 such bikes (above 800 cc category) sell in India every year.

Some of the models that BMW plans to bring in are the R 1200 GS, S 1000 RR and the bigger K series bikes with four-cylinder engines. The motorcycles will be made at BMW’s Motorrad plant in Berlin and come to India as completely built up units.

The BMW K series are among the best in the segment of large-volume four-cylinder motorcycles due to the technological innovations and higher engine output.

The bikes that will roll out are likely to be in the 1300 cc category. Both BMW's R and K series have the finest quality of chassis and an unparalleled safety provision with the BMW Motorrad ABS.

Superbikes or the premium motorcycles segment is still at its initial stage but could surge by over 50% in the next five years owing to the ever-burgeoning income of India’s population, availability of loans at highly competitive rates, an urge for the good life and due to a host of other factors. A higher spending by the government to ramp up infrastructure and roads in the country could give the superbikes segment an additional fillip.

Although the superbikes segment growth could go up a tad in the short-term, the potential in the long term is enormous. Therefore, if BMW plans to stay on with its premium motorcycles this time, it could reap the benefits.