BMW Motorcycles to Use Indian Made Gearboxes

As India’s Hero Honda Motors has no further strings attached to Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Honda, the company is free to build its strength through collaborations with other brands. One such example is the newly signed five-year deal with BMW Motorrad, who has contracted the Indian company to manufacture its gearboxes.

If all things go well, the deal will extend to eight years, during which Hero Motors will make gearboxes for both domestic Indian and global market BMW motorcycles.

The company, who already supplies a number components for BMW bikes, could see its gearboxes fitted into all motorcycles - and maybe even scooters in the near future- in the German maker’s range. The move, which is expected to generate a number of controversial reactions, is allegedly a cost-effective one for BMW.

Needless to say, the current gearbox supplier for BMW Motorrad, the German Company Getrag - will be left out as soon as Hero Motors starts delivering their own.

"That Europe is the best place for sourcing automobile components is not necessarily correct. The landscape is changing. Our transmission business, for one, has been growing over 70 per cent a year for the last few years," said Hero Motors managing director Pankaj Munjal.

"We have developed the gearbox [for BMW] ourselves. Usually, components such as engines and transmissions are made by the company itself, as they involve advanced technology. [Now] we have achieved the expertise. BMW Motorrad will source gearboxes from us for products it sells globally," added Munjal.

Hero Motors already has other partnerships n progress, such as with Canadian power sports vehicle specialist Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP).

BMW has recently announced that all of its motorcycles models will be manufactured with standard ABS from 2012.