Tuesday, March 18, 2008

BMW motorcycles has plans for India

MUNICH: German luxury car and bike maker BMW, which has been shying away from re-entering the Indian motorcycle market, is now looking to source parts for engines and chassis for its high-end two-wheelers from the country.

"Already we have been sourcing motorcycle parts such as handle bars and die cast from India. Now we are exploring to source components for engine and chassis parts," BMW Board Member (international parts sourcing) Herbert Diess said here.

He said the company, which set up an international purchasing office (IPO) in India between 2006-07, has been running a pilot programme to increase component sourcing from India.

"In the past few months we have visited over 100 suppliers and we are still in the monitoring stage for increasing sourcing of car components from India," Diess said.

BMW has started sourcing from India in a small quantity for cars as well, like software parts and has been closely working with vendors such as Mico Bosch and Conti, he added.

Diess, however, declined to comment on the value of components that were bing currently sourced from India and possible quantity that BMW was looking to procure from the country.

The company's IPO currently has a strength of five people and is likely to be further enhanced, he added.

Diess said the company was currently not looking at re-entering the Indian bike market after its initial attempts failed.

The bike market in Indian being primarily for commuting, and didn't suit BMW's products, he added

But, we all know what we need, dont we? The R1 is already here, the Hondas and Suzukis will follow soon, with the Ninja going on sale in a couple of months time. Whats keeping BMW from coming here with the bikes then?

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