Are Indians wary of Superbikes?
Written on August 13, 2008 – 1:25 pm | by BikersUnite
Ducati 1098S Tricolore
I came across this article in Economic Times stating the launch of superbikes to be a disaster in India. With 73 R1 & MT-01 sold since December 07 & ‘just’ 22 bookings for Ducati’s in India, the launches have been termed failures.
Now let’s look at the outlook from Yamaha & Ducati’s prespective.
- Yamaha at launch expected 24 unit sales in the initial year. They are at 3 times the figure.
- Ducati had a forecast for 50 units in the first year. They are almost at halfway mark in barely three months.
So where does the issue of “dismal performance” crop up? Everyone knows that with over 100% in duties, India has the highest per unit cost of bike for the customers. Still the companies managed to grab 95 orders within 7 months of launch despite presence of a vibrant grey market. I consider this to be a success rather than a disaster for the manufacturers.
Suzuki and Honda are expected to launch a couple of high end bike each by the end of the year (Expect the Hayabusa, GSX-R1000, CBR1000RR & the VFR1000 to hit the streets in next 6 months). Instead of further dampening sales due to increased competition, there should be a 3-4 fold increase in the market size with more choice available for the Indian biker.
Expect sales figures in range of 200+ from manufacturers at the end of fiscal year. Now I wonder what the figures may have been had we not been riddled with rediculously high import duties.
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