Interview with BMW Motorrad (April Owners News)

April 6, 2007 Page 1 of 9    123456789

(left to right) BMW's Rob Mitchell, Laurence Kuykendall, Dirk Biehler, and Arturo Pineiro sit down for a discussion with BMW MOA's Ray Zimmerman (pictured) and Vince Winkel. (enlarge image)

This winter, BMW Owners News editor Vince Winkel and BMW MOA executive director Ray Zimmerman sat down with several BMW Motorrad executives to discuss the dealership situation in the U.S., as well as other topics including the 2007 line of motorcycles and the sense of community within the BMW motorcycle family.

Sitting down with the BMW ON at BMW North America's offices in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey were Dirk Biehler, manager of marketing for BMW Motorrad; Laurence Kuykendall, the community and communications manager for BMW Motorrad, and Arturo Pineiro, the vice president of BMW Motorrad USA.

BMW Owners News - What is your reaction on the reception of the new bikes. Everything has been positive from what we can tell. That must send a message that you're firing on all cylinders with the new bikes.

Dirk Biehler, Marketing - For us it was very important to have these new bikes. The G-series has been a worldwide surprise in the press and in the riding community. It was very important for us to have these bikes in time for the review at Intermot and the International Motorcycle Shows in North America in order to give the riders and potential customers the ability to see, touch and feel the bikes.

The reception at the IMS shows (and we do 14 of those this time, so we go to all of them in the United States) is really awesome. It has all been very positive. There was a lot of expectation about the F800s, but the G series has really been surprisingly positive. The fact that we made bikes with an improved power to weight ratio and therefore deliver more dynamics and even better handling and a much more sporty approach has been perceived very well.

Owners News - The buzz that we hear through some of the online forums with the BMW MOA has generated the question of when the F800 will be out. There is such anticipation for that bike, it makes us wonder if that will be the biggest seller of the new bikes that have come out this year.

Dirk - To answer your question, our plans are to make them available in the spring, with the G series and the F800s. To the second question of which bike will be the best seller of the five new bikes we are introducing, I think the K1200RS and the G650 CrossChallenge will be very important bikes in the United States markets, especially on the west coast. I think the F800 will have a very positive reception because it is a very complete bike. It is a substantial product offer from the design to the quality to the product substance at a price point that is new for us. I expect that the F800S and F800ST will be the biggest volume makers.