TVS Motor is in talks with BMW to forge a technology partnership

TVS Motor is in talks with BMW to forge a long-term technology partnership with the German luxury car and bike maker, a top company executive said. 

"We are diligently working on various initiatives (with BMW) and some announcement is expected by the end of this fiscal," G S Goindi, president (marketing & sales) at Chennai-based TVS Motors, said. 

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of 125cc bike Phoenix in New Delhi, Goindi said he could not elaborate on the nature of partnership with BMW or outline the broad contours of their negotiations. 

BMW has been selling its high-end performance bikes in India since 2010. 

While the new tie-up is seen as a move to gain technology for high-end bikes, TVS has plans to develop indigenous technology to launch bikes beyond the 200cc segment. 

"We have plans to go beyond the 180cc segment and would debut a new brand in the domestic big bike segment," Goindi said. "We are working on our indigenous technology to enable us to bring the bike in the next 18-24 months," he said. 

TVS is also working on a high-powered scooter model and would bring in a new brand besides the existing 110 cc Wego and Scooty by next year. It would also relaunch its Victor bike for domestic customers soon to revive its sales that dipped almost 8% in the first eight months of the fiscal over last year. 

TVS launched its new executive segment bike, Phoenix, priced between 49,990 and 52,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi) across different variants. The model would compete with Hero MotoCorp's Glamour, Bajaj Auto's Discover and Honda Motorcycle's Shine. 

Also read: TVS Phoenix Launched