Kawasaki, Japanese motorcycle manufacturer has launched two new litre class bikes Z1000 and Ninja 1000 in India. The Z1000 and Ninja 1000 will be imported as Completely Built Units (CBU). The both litre class bikes will cost the same price of Rs 12.5 lakh.
The Z1000 and Ninja 1000 will sport the same 1043cc, liquid cooled, DOHC, 16-valve, in-line four cylinder engine with digital fuel injection. The engine can produce maximum power of 142 PS at 10000 rpm and maximum torque of 111Nm at 7300 rpm. The engine is coupled to six speed transmission. Kawasaki has offered onABS on both bikes.
Kawasaki Z1000 is a naked street bike, while the Ninja 1000 is a full faired sports bike. The both motorcycles will get a twin-tube aluminium frame, 41 mm adjustable inverted fork suspension at the front and horizontal monoshock rear suspension. The Z1000 gets 300mm dual petal brakes at the front and a single 250 mm petal brake at rear.
Yuji Horiuchi,MD, India Kawasaki Motors said, “There is a substantial growth in 500 cc segment. Focus in India are the high-performance bikes and currently we do not have any plan of launching an entry-segment type bike. Our estimation of market size of these bikes is of 2500 units every year. We are targeting 20 per cent market share of this category. Along with Ninja, Z-series is also important for us. Our initial target for sales is 100 units per model per year. We will expand our business territory in a phase-wise manner.”
He added, “We had recently launched two of our flagship models and received impressive response for these products. To further strengthen our presence in the country, we are now launching two more global products targeted at specific audiences. We are also launching our first exclusive showroom in North India, to strategically expand our national footprint. With incessant support from our long-standing partners, Bajaj Auto, we look forward to taking the Kawasaki brand in India from strength to strength.”