Official: BMW Motorrad finally announces its entry into the Indian market, starts with CBUs

BMW Motorrad first showed itself in India in the form of a handful of motorcycles at the 2016 Auto Expo, including the BMW G 310 R which it will source via its arrangement with TVS, the Indian two-wheeler maker. However, BMW Motorrad has not explicitly been in India until today. BMW Motorrad India is to be based out of Gurgaon as part of BMW's India subsidiary, BMW Group. Before this, BMW Motorrad was represented by importers based out of Mumbai and New Delhi.

BMW Motorrad will be headed in India by Shivaprasad Ray who was earlier at other two-wheeler majors, including DSK-Benelli and Hyosung. Another motorcycling figure is Vikram Pawah, who is president BMW Group India. Pawah formerly headed Harley-Davidson India. The starting dealership network is to have BMW Motorrad showrooms in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune. And of course, BMW Motorrad intends to expand both its reach and product portfolio in the coming days, says Pawah.

The opening range of the BMW Motorrad products in India are all completely built units. These obviously include the two single-most important motorcycles of all in the line-up, the BMW R 1200 GS and the BMW S 1000 RR. Also on the sale are the R 1200 R, RS and RT boxer models, the K 1600 GTL inline 6-cylinder tourer, the BMW R Nine T and R NineT Scrambler and the BMW S 1000 XR adventure tourer. Prices start at Rs 14.90 lakh ex-Delhi for the R 1200 R basic model while the most expensive motorcycle on the list is the K 1600 GTL at Rs 28.5 lakh, also ex-showroom Delhi. The R 1200 GS and Adventure models are priced between Rs 15.90 and Rs 21.40 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi. While the S 1000 RR is available in two trim levels at Rs 18.90 and Rs 21.40 lakh, ex-Delhi.

These are good prices and significantly lower than the prices that the importers of BMW Motorrad were quoting before BMW Motorrad India made a new official price list. The next step in the process, apart from dealership expansion, is the launch of the BMW G 310 R which is expected to happen in July. BMW Motorrad is also understood to be considering the option of CBU products from its Thailand factory - this includes the 700 and 800 parallel-twin engine'd models - for India launch. The option to that is to set up a CKD facility in Chennai alongside the cars. We expect the CKD decision and announcement to come by the end of this year, but that is our guess.

Here is the complete price list of BMW motorcycles in India: