Confirmed: BMW Motorrad to officially enter India in October 2016

Team OD Published: May 21, 2016, 02:13 PM IST

Stefan Schaller, the president and CEO of BMW Motorrad has commented that BMW will be officially starting two-wheeler operations India by October this year. He revealed this on the sidelines of the ongoing 2016 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. The BMW Motorrad range is currently available in India via their two distributors - Deutsche Motoren for Delhi and NCR region and Navnit Motors for the rest of India.

BMW Motorrad was originally expected to announce its entry in India at the 2016 Auto Expo but they displayed a handful of motorcycles but no announcements were made. Now, we expect BMW Motorrad to announce plans of setting up its dealerships in the top metro cities initially in October when their first Indian-made motorcycle, the BMW G 310 R, goes on sale. These dealerships can be expected to sell their CBU products as well.

BMW announced its intention to sell its jointly developed bikes on its own in India. Expect a plan to expand its reach in India soon

The BMW G 310 R is powered by a single-cylinder, liquid cooled and fuel injected engine which makes 34PS at 9,500rppm and 28Nm at 7,500rpm. The motor redlines at 10,500rpm and is mated to a 6-speed constant mesh gearbox. It gets non-adjustable 41mm upside down forks at the front and a swingarm mounted preload-adjustable monoshock at the rear. Braking duties are taken care of by a 300mm front disc and a 240mm rear disc. It gets ABS as standard along with steel-braided brake lines.

BMW G310 R (4)

The BMW G 310 R will be manufactured at the TVS Motor's facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. As per the terms of the BMW-TVS partnership, the G 310 R has been designed and developed by BMW Motorrad while TVS will be the production partner for India. Once launched, it will mark BMW's entry into the sub-500cc motorcycle segment with the G 310 R competing against the likes of the KTM Duke 390 and the Mahindra Mojo. A few months on, TVS will also launch the first of their motorcycles based on this platform. TVS took the wraps off the Akula 310 as a precursor to the actual motorcycle at the 2016 Auto Expo.

BMW G 310 R (K03)

Of late, the sub-500cc motorcycle segment has caught the attention of quite a few manufacturers. However, there's still place in this segment for a 'nice guy motorcycle'. Typically, the term refers to a motorcycle which appeals to everyone and offends none, offers a decent amount of power, no compromise in terms of build quality along with fit and finish and doesn't necessarily need to command a low price.

BMW G 310 R (K03)