Germany’s luxury car maker BMW’s plan to drive into India has hit a peculiar roadblock. No, it’s not the low fuel quality that most global car brands crib about, or the potholed face of Indian roads, but a technological advancement that has, in fact, won BMW several accolades the world over — run-flat tyres.
This technology has made a spare-wheel — popularly called stepney — inside its car trunks redundant. All BMW cars are designed with no space for storing a spare-wheel — an advancement that threatens to make these cars “unfit” for Indian roads under government regulations.
Here’s how: Indian regulations make it mandatory for every manufacturer to provide a spare-wheel with the cars they sell in India, else the vehicle would not be homologated — or declared road-worthy. The same has been holding back the homologation certificate for BMW cars at certifying authority, Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI).
“We are in constant dialogue with ARAI and are trying to educate them about run-flat tyres, and the fact that our cars are globally sold without a spare-wheel,” says BMW India president Peter Kronschnabl.
A punctured run-flat tyre can run for 200 km at a speed of about 80kmph, without the car losing stability or facing any safety risk, before it has to be replaced. “We have successfully tested our vehicles on Indian roads using these tyres,” he says. BMW drove its 3-Series and 5-series cars for over 25,000 km on Indian roads. “We feel we will be able to convince ARAI and our customers about this technology. Or else, we will have to find an alternate route. It’s still possible to provide a spare-wheel in the 5-Series, but it’s going to difficult to fix it in a 3-Series,” he adds.
BIG IS BEAUTIFUL
BMW is investing Rs 110 crore to set up a plant in Chennai, with an initial capacity for 1,700 units per annum. While deliveries of 3-Series cars would start by February-March 2007, the 5-Series cars would be available by May-June. It is also exploring the feasibility of introducing the premium compact car brand Mini in India. But the firm has decided to steer clear of the compact car market with its BMW brand. It produces compact cars under 1-Series in Europe.
“The BMW badge will be used for only premium sedans. We feel there is not enough market for a BMW compact car as it will be too high priced for India. So, the 1-Series will not be rolled out in India,” says Kronschnabl.
BMW would begin production of cars in India early next year, and expects to sell around 1,000 units in its first full year of operation.
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