an intervieW With Pieter de Waal, vice President Of BMW MOtOrrad Usa Understanding the s1000rr this month, the BMW s1000rr will begin appearing in BMW Motorcycle We wanted to bring young people into dealer showrooms across north america. this new superbike is the culmi- the BMW Motorrad brand. The current nation of almost five years of planning. age profile of our customer is worldwide 47, and in America about 50. Our cus- for Pieter de Waal, who many of you have heard speak at the last two tomers age at approximately .7 years per BMW MOa national rallies, this bike has been a priority and a mission. the year. That implies that our existing cus- BMW Motorrad vice President’s excitement over the s1000rr is apparent tomers keep buying our motorcycles as to anyone who has discussed the bike with him, as we did in november. they get older, but we do not bring many young people into the brand. It’s a major BMW OWners neWs: Pieter you’ve been involved with the longterm concern. S1000RR since the beginning, is that correct? Going for a superbike would give us brand new customers. In Pieter de Waal: Yes. In the first place, I was in Germany America, the average age of a 1000cc superbike owner is 34, and the responsible for sales and marketing at the time that the decision 600cc is 23 years of age. This bike would give us access to a new gen- was made to build this bike. I want to give you the background on eration of customers. People that buy superbikes are not looking at why BMW decided to build a Superbike, and what we have done in anything but a superbike; they are not interested in cruisers, touring the U.S. in a pre-sales campaign to make sure that the motorcycle bikes or GS bikes. There is little overlap between superbike people and will be a success in the US Market. the rest. The superbike market worldwide is big, and it is even bigger BMW On: Going back in time a bit, can you describe the genesis of in America. The motorcycle market has shrunk to about 75,000 the S1000RR? new superbikes per year; it used to be about 150,000 per year Mr. de Waal: This project started about total. We predict that we will make this the 4.5 years ago. I was in Germany and we best single-selling BMW model in the decided to go for a superbike because it fits By vince WinK el range. We expect it to outsell the GS and be the brand of BMW. editor, BMW Owners news very successful. January 2010 BMW OWNERS NEWS 47 BMW On: So the American market really is one of the driving build a BMW interpretation of the superbike, but we decided to forces in creating and launching this bike? build a mainstream bike and take the four Japanese brands in Mr. de Waal: Absolutely. Essentially, we at BMW have to follow their own game. a volume growth strategy. We invest more than any other company That meant that we had to understand and play by the rules of in research and development. We have a very high-tech company, the game; how they define a superbike and understand what and we pay a high price for that. All of us are in the volume game makes customers tick (knowing what is important to them). because it is that last 20% volume that makes a company really profitable. BMW On: So what are people like me, and our members, looking We looked at areas in which it would be lucrative to expand. We for when they buy a bike like the S1000RR? looked at cruisers and decided that it’s not for us. We decided that Mr. de Waal: Four things. Let’s start with performance. 99% superbikes were a big volume area that was attractive to us, espe- of the people that buy a superbike cannot ride the bike to its cially because it would bring us young people. full potential. They rely on what they hear from the media. The We knew that going for superbike would make America very motorcycle must have the highest power to weight ratio. Our important for us. bike has a substantial margin of the highest horse power— 193—and it is about 2 or 3 pounds heavier than the lightest BMW On: What’s the Superbike market like in North America? bike, so we are on our game in this area. 455 pounds wet (fully Mr. de Waal: The 1000cc superbike sector is dominated by tanked with ABS), 404 dry. Then there are the comparison four models: Honda CBR1000R, Yamaha R1, Kawasaki ZX10 and tests: they buy magazines that compare the motorcycles and Suzuki GSX-R1000. These four models make 88% of the total compare which ones have the fastest lap times. That is why worldwide superbike sales. We decided that we want to take the these huge motorcycle magazines do comparison tests between four Japanese brands head on. That is a different philosophy models and analyze which is the fastest. We’ve entered into than Ducati had; they built an alternative version to the Japa- world superbike racing a year before we launch the bike (2009) nese superbike. It is a different game. KTM also went for a varia- to create credibility for the bike up front. They have done tion to the theme. incredibly well for their first year in this motorsport We didn’t go for that; it would have been much easier for us to competition. 48 BMW OWNERS NEWS January 2010 Finally, the bike should look good. For us it was quite a correspond: the race ABS, the dynamic traction control and the dilemma because the motorcycle was built with an understand- engine management. As you dial in different modes, the bike ing of the Japanese criteria, and we knew it would look like a reacts accordingly. That means that the motorcycle assists you Japanese bike. We didn’t want it to look like a copycat; we according to you ability, which makes you faster than you would’ve wanted it to look like a BMW. We decided to strictly follow a been on a conventional motorcycle. It costs $1,400 to add this philosophy of form follows function. The function determined option and 98% of pre-orders have included it. the shape of things. That is why certain elements are asymmetrical. BMW On: You talk about bringing in new BMW riders, and younger riders. Are there any plans for a 600cc model? BMW On: What about cost? Mr. de Waal: There are no plans to build a 600cc. The market Mr. de Waal: We decided from day one that this motorcycle is twice as big as the 1000cc in the U.S., but the equation becomes could not cost the normal BMW premium and it had to be much, much worse for us because they sell for $2,000 less and within $1,000 of its competitors in America. It was a huge chal- are just as expensive to build. lenge to build the bike to meet this (price) point. We’ve We are as confident as one can be that this bike will do well. We’ve announced it at $13,800 which is competitive with Honda’s set ambitious volume targets on it, and are competitive price wise. superbike, which retails for $12,999. The motorcycle is really fantastic. However, the final judgement will be from the media and what they publish about it. BMW On: What do you get for this price that you may not get Within the superbike fraternity, customers are not very brand on a bike from another manufacturer? loyal, so we fancy that we will be able to pull a lot of people off Mr. de Waal: One of the things that we had in mind was to their existing superbike and onto ours because we stuck to the build a motorcycle so that the average rider could be safe and ride rules of the game that they acknowledge. faster on this motorcycle. We believe that a rider of average ability We have more than 600 preorders in the U.S., and that is would be faster at a track day with our motorcycle. You can dial in before the media has started to write about the motorcycle and optional modes of operation by flipping a switch (rain, sport, race had the ability to do comparison tests. The initial signs are very and slick). When you do this, three main areas of the motorcycle positive. January 2010 BMW OWNERS NEWS 49 46 BMW OWNERS NEWS January 2010.