Join BikersUnite Submit your own news & stories easily at 'Submit Story' above.
A four-wheeler for Rs 1 lakh and high-speed super bikes for Rs 8-15 lakh. The Indian market is nurturing a new breed of machines with stark price contrast.
The example of India’s frugal engineering capabilities, Tata Motor’s Rs 1-lakh car, is expected to hit the road sometime in the third quarter of 2008. But much before that, hordes of fuel-guzzling, high-end super bikes would be out in the Indian automobile mart.
Priced at Rs 8-15 lakh (landed price in India after 110% Customs duty), Japanese bike makers have lined up their share of models for India. Yamaha Motor India (YMI) would roll out two of its most successful flagship bikes — 1,000cc YZF-R1 and 1,670cc MT-01 — later this year.
Not lagging behind is Suzuki Motorcycles India (SMI), which has frozen the GXR1000, Bandit1250 and the legendary GSX1300 Hayabusa for India in early 2008. Similarly, Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HMSI) is looking at importing CBR1000 and GLX1800 models around the same time.
Besides the price variation, their volumes would also create a stark contrast. The niche bikes are expected to garner only 3,000 units annually in India while the Tata Motors’ Rs 1-lakh car is expected to swell to 5 lakh units in a few years.
“While the high-priced bikes would satisfy the niche segment, Tata Motors’ product would be commuter-driven. It would create some real excitement in the domestic automobile market,†said PwC auto analyst Abdul Majeed.
The players are already making backstage arrangements to streamline respective launches. “We are planning a nation-wide sales and spares network for a successful launch. Our preliminary survey has shown the market for such niche bikes is constantly growing.
From the annual 1,000 units market (all imported), it is likely to double by next year-end,†said SMI vice-president Atul Gupta. Besides the metros, SMI plans to sell these bikes in tier II cities such as Indore, Pune and Coimbatore.
YMI has cleared all homologation (mandatory test and approval process) hurdles for its two bike models from the Automotive Research Association of India and is slated to be a front-runner for the launch of the super bike.
Even SMI has set the process in motion to bring these bikes into the market. “The rising number of high networth individuals in India has created a lucrative market for us to test these mighty machines. They would come sometime next year,†said HMSI CEO Shinji Aoyama.
Discuss Add this link to... Kill Story
Comments