Starting this month, BMW Motorrad will have a new name leading the direction of its motorcycle lineup, as Christof Lischka will take over as head of BMW Motorrad Development from Karl Viktor Schaller, who is retiring after fives years in the role.
As such, this means that Lischka will be responsible for finding the white spaces in BMW Motorrad’s product lineup – looking for opportunities in new segments and sectors, while also analyzing and refining the offerings that BMW already has on the showroom floors.
“BMW Motorrad has shown an unparalleled product offensive in recent years,” said Markus Schramm, Head of BMW Motorrad. “We would like to thank Karl Viktor Schaller for his important contribution to realizing our motorcycle growth strategy.”
“We are confident Christof Lischka will continue our successful product development. He brings a wealth of experience in vehicle development and will be a valuable addition to BMW Motorrad.”
To that vein, Lischka has held already various development positions at BMW over the past 20 years, notably though all on the car side of the business. BMW is quick to point out however that Lischka is an accomplished motorcyclist, and the German brand reinforces the fact with not one, but two media pool shots of him astride different BMW motorcycles.
Christof Lischka lists motocross and enduro races to his two-wheeled resumé, which includes winning the “Accept No Limits” race and finishing runner-up in the “Master of Dirt” competition. In 2003 and 2018, Lischka also finished the demanding “Roof of Africa” rally.
“As a passionate enduro and street motorcycle rider, I’m looking forward to building on the successes of the highly motivated development team so far and providing vital impetus for the next generation of BMW motorcycles,” Lischka said of his new role.
Of course, the real proof will be in the pudding for Lischka, as his work becomes noticed in the coming model years. With the development process taking 3 to 5 years for a new motorcycle though, it will be some time before we see whether BMW Motorrad has picked the right person for the job.
One thing is for certain, looking at the current BMW Motorrad lineup, Lischka has some big shoes to fill. It will be interesting to see where he takes the German brand, especially as the rules for transportation continue to change.
Source: BMW Motorrad
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