BMW MOTORRAD CEO STEPHAN SC HALLER
P100
I N T E R V I E W
fast—they have more than 200 horsepower. So
the question is the same as with other alterna-
tive technologies. BMW is capable of producing
anything, but do we have a market for it? Can we
envisage volume sales for it? Is it the right thing
to do, and is now the right time to do it?
What we did with the R NineT last year worked
so well because it was the right time for BMW to
step into the Custom market, and be investing in
that. So my answer is that in the short term we
are not planning a Kompressor, but if the time
is right and it becomes the right thing to take it
forward, then we are ready with all the basics to
move very fast on one.
Having a look at other forms of technol-
ogy, BMW was once the world leader in
supercharging—a technology which has sud-
denly now become fashionable again with
the arrival of the Kawasaki H2R. I understand
that BMW did do some work on a Kompres-
sor Boxer streetbike in the mid-2000's, but
that it was set aside because of the worldwide
recession. Yet here is Kawasaki launching a
supercharged motorcycle. Is BMW planning to
do the same?
Definitely in the short term we are not planning
to do so. We have our unsupercharged road-
bikes that as you know are already running very
