Bajaj Auto’s KTM Duke 390 motor bikes to launch in 2014.
Bureau Report
NEW YORK: Tata Nano may take some time to reach the shores of the United States, but something smaller than that built in India will ply the roads here, starting next year: motor bikes by Bajaj Auto.
The Indian motorcycle giant will manufacture a street bike for its partner KTM AG, the Austrian bike maker in which it has over 47% stake for the US. KTM till now has been selling only off-road bikes in this market, reported the Business Standard.
These, stylish, high performance and race-oriented KTM Duke 390s would be made in Chakan, Pune plant owned by Bajaj Auto.
Stefan Pierer, chief executive, KTM-Sportmotorcycle AG, in an interview to Business Standard says, “It is a strategic decision together with Bajaj to go for sporty, stylish motorcycles even for the saturated markets because cars have become too expensive. We are entering the street bike segment in the US for the first time and beginning next year the Duke 390 built in India by Bajaj will be sold in the US market.”
The US is the world’s biggest market for high-end super bikes (above 990cc). However, due to the on-going financial crises consumers are downgrading to suit themselves with more affordable, efficient and easy-on-pocket products.
The Duke 390, which prior to the US will be launched in Europe by the middle of this year followed by India, is the result of the joint development program by engineers of Bajaj and KTM, said the report.
The concept of the Duke 390 was developed in Austria but everything else including design and development to the final product was done in India by Bajaj Auto. Bajaj Auto which owns stake in KTM has successfully launched two models – Duke 200 and Duke 125 – built and sold in India and exported to Europe and other markets.
These small displacement street bikes, which are very peppy by character are ideal for urban commuting especially in saturated markets such as the US and Europe with increasing demand, adds Pierer. So far no Indian company has been able to set foot in the US automotive market which is widely considered to be the most toughest market.
“What we are talking about is a very powerful (40-44bhp) yet affordable bike, 138kg, so its real powerful agile bike and based of the target price of around Euro 5,000, including VAT, we think it could be a very big success,” added Pierer.
Riding high on such India-made smaller bikes KTM achieved its set target of dethroning German giant BMW last year to become Europe’s largest bike maker with sales of 107,000 as against BMW’s 106,000 units, said Standard.
Pierer expects to do a multi-fold increase in production from Chakan to at least 100,000 units per year from 17,000 units as of last year, in the next five years. This will also be exactly half of what KTM is expected to produce globally by that time.