Photo: BMW
BMW is said to start manufacturing some of its GS motorcycles in India. The fact that more and more motorcycle manufacturers are opening production facilities in India is already a well-established trend. Some choose to actually craft motorcycles in India, while others are only assembling them from imported parts, to skip the blistering taxes and duties which add to the retails price. It looks like BMW will follow the latter route, as it is rumored that F700GS and F800GS bikes will be produced in India.
Rumors mention the plant in Chennai being reorganized and receiving an additional assembly line (or more) which will be used for building F700GS and F800GS adventure machines. The Chennai plat is also currently producing several BMW car models. The parts will be imported in India and the resulting bikes will be sold in markets around the world, just like the cars made there, if we are to believe autocarindia.
We could almost say this sounds like an integrated, strategic move which can be linked to the upcoming under-500cc bikes BMW intends to build together with local manufacturer TVS. All the motorcycles assembled in India should allow BMW to offer them for more competitive prices, at least in that market. We will most likely see no difference in the price tags of Indian-made bikes compared to others manufactured in different countries, when sold in Europe or North America.
Fact is that BMW will definitely be helped a lot in sales volumes after the Indian plant debuts production in late 2015 or early 2016, even if the bikes made in Chennai will only be sold in the region.
Smaller taxes will help BMW sell more bikes in India
While the mighty R1200GS remains the company’s bestseller, the bike reaches India with an insane price tag. While there will be wealthy riders who would buy anything, BMW realized that solid profit can be made selling more, smaller bikes for lower prices.We could almost say this sounds like an integrated, strategic move which can be linked to the upcoming under-500cc bikes BMW intends to build together with local manufacturer TVS. All the motorcycles assembled in India should allow BMW to offer them for more competitive prices, at least in that market. We will most likely see no difference in the price tags of Indian-made bikes compared to others manufactured in different countries, when sold in Europe or North America.
Germany-made bikes vs the world
Or maybe BMW intends to move the entire production for these models in India… Even so, there have been certain complaints from BMW riders in the last years related to the build quality. How will the market welcome Indian-made bikes is yet unknown, despite the makers’ claims that a motorcycle built in Germany is identical with one built in an Asian country. Everybody says so, but sometimes, issues appear.Fact is that BMW will definitely be helped a lot in sales volumes after the Indian plant debuts production in late 2015 or early 2016, even if the bikes made in Chennai will only be sold in the region.
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