Having seen KTM, Triumph and a resurgent Ducati eye a move to Asian markets, BMW wants in but without devaluing its brand equity. Using its wholly-owned Italian subsidiary Husqvarna to forge a tie-up with Hosur-based bike maker TVS is one of the tasty possibilities with immense ramifications not just for India but also globally. Adil Jal Darukhanawala outlines the story which has the makings of a win-win situation for both bike makers and motorcyclists in the region.
Adil Jal Darukhanawala.
The success of Austrian bike maker KTM hasn’t gone unnoticed in the European market. Especially by BMW which has been on song for the past few years with its range of superbikes, traditional boxers for road and endurance plus also its tourers and custom bikes. However, the era of large capacity, hyper machines seems limited though very profitable but it will stay concentrated in the developed world with next to no worthwhile movement in the large mass motorcycle markets of the world. Read that as Asia, South America and Africa where motorcycles are first the main means of personal mobility for work and utility plus commuting and then tools for pleasure and performance.
And just like KTM has taken the India route to success and volumes, BMW has been exploring this route as well though it has as yet to come up with its exact game plan. However, there is a subtle difference between KTM and BMW in their India approach. Bajaj Auto has been a strong investor-partner in KTM and in fact brings a lot of its low cost yet hi-tech manufacturing ability to the table. The Indian firm is already the world’s third largest bike maker by volume, the most profitable as well in the industry and to top it all has a terrific product development programme underway with technology and skills sets it has developed over the last decade and a half.
German bike maker BMW acknowledges what has to be the mantra to do the volume business and still stay relevant with its big bikes and that is to have a presence in Asian nations like India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. Trouble is it has no bikes less than 650cc of engine displacement and its scooters are way too trick and technologically proficient to be sold at prices prevalent in Asia. The obvious thing then is to set up an Asian base, preferably with a well established bike maker in the region to make a slew of small capacity machines ranging from 125cc to 250cc straddling various segments of the two-wheeler market.
For this to work India seems to be the right hunting ground and while many will think Hero MotoCorp would have been the logical first choice, the obvious nameplate which can meet BMW’s objectives and turn them into a win-win situation would have to be TVS. The Hosur-based bike, scooter and moped maker (it also makes three-wheeled autorickshaws) is renowned for its engineering and low cost manufacturing skills. If that’s not all, it has a penchant for quality which would help tick many boxes in BMW’s checklist as to what a potential partner might need to sport and the overall prognosis seems pretty clear, BMW needs TVS more than I think TVS needs BMW! One can term this as an inane expression but there is pretty strong substance to this as will be made clear going ahead.
