No more wait for the fun and fast, as bikes from Harley-Davidson and Ducati are marching towards the Indian roads. The gentlemen who aspire for these niche bikes have to shell out a huge amount from their corpus. The prices are at the higher level than a mid size car but the companies are bold enough to enter the market, which is dominated by the likes of Hero Honda, Bajaj, TVS and Honda Scooter, Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki. Of these, Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki have already launched their premium range bikes.
Ducati, owned by the car manufacturer Fiat, has opened its retail shop in the country, as the bikes in the price range of Rs9.6 lakhs – Rs43.37 lakhs are to be in deal at 6 showrooms within 2010. The price and product range of Harley-Davidson will be available in the ensuing Auto Expo in January. But the preliminary details about the dealership – in5 citites, to start with- are that the company has received 80 applications so far and the company’s own Harley Owners Group (H.O.G) to organize cross-country adventure rides, will also be in the picture. From the overseas manufacturer, Yamaha was the first one to enter into the Indian market with its 1000 cc bike R1 and 1700 cc sports bike MT01 in December 2007.
The bikes at the cost of Rs12.5 lakh has hit the stands in about 150 units as on date and another super bike V-MAX 1700 cc at Rs20 lakh is also launched. According to the company’s official top brass, the company has been out of stock for the last three months as the demand is high for both R1 and MT01. Suzuki’s story is altogether different with its Hayabusa (Rs12.5 lakh) and Intruder both of which came into India last November and has found 105 owners as on date. Kawasaki, in association with Bajaj, has launched its Ninja 250R, a 250cc bike and is treated as a sobered version of its global brands and is priced Rs3 lakhs. Though affordable in a way, it does not fit in the super bike category. The unit is assembled in Chakan unit of Bajaj and already it has sold about 127 units. Soon there will be KTM bikes @690cc.
The companies are at ease and a sigh of relief from the local homologation rules for the bikes above 800cc which enabled their business growth. Now there would no need to modify for the local conditions. More reasons cited for the growth of these bikes are the enhanced urban income and perfect road facilities. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers the market of the premium bikes is 500 units a year which is expected to increase to 1000 by 2015. The increase is in direct proportion to the rise in per capita income to $1000, which is expected to happen in India by 2014, said the Society’s Director.