BMW Motorrad to Commence Operations in India by October 2016

Over the last few months, there has been a lot of speculation about when BMW Motorrad will make its presence official in India. Well, we might have found an answer to that question. The CEO for BMW Motorrad, Stefan Schaller, has confirmed that the famed Motorcycle arm of BMW will commence it operations in India from October 2016 at the ongoing Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. At present, one can purchase BMW motorcycles through either Deutsche Motoren, in Delhi and NCR or Navnit Motors for the rest of the country. BMW Motorrad had shown its presence at the 2016 Auto Expo, held in the NCR region and it was believed that they will be announcing their official entry into India then. All we can say is that we will be too glad to see BMW motorcycles on Indian roads. We expect BMW Motorrad to open dealerships in some of biggest metro cities in the country such as Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru and so on.

(BMW G310R)

It is also believed that the much awaited BMW G 310 R will be launched in India in October as well. The G 310 R has been making a lot of news and has also been spotted testing in India. The G 310 R is powered by a single-cylinder 313cc engine that churns out a solid 34bhp@9,500rpm and 28Nm@7,500rpm. The engine is mated to a 6-speed transmission and can hit a maximum of 145kmph. BMW says it has put in a lot of efforts in the motorcycle. The engine leans backwards so as to centralise most of the mass and keep the centre of gravity lower. BMW claims an efficiency of 36kmpl for the G 310 R. Other interesting bits include dual-channel ABS on a 300mm disc brake upfront and a 240mm disc at the rear. Suspension duties are handled by 41mm USD forks up front and a monoshock unit at the rear.

This will be the first ever instance of BMW Motorrad foraying into the sub 500cc motorcycle segment. But then, such is the pull of the Indian performance motorcycling market as well. The G 310 R will go up against the Mahindra Mojo, KTM Duke 390 along with other motorcycles in the segment. Since it will be manufactured at TVS's plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, we expect BMW to keep the prices as competitive as possible.

(Source: Overdrive.in)