New Delhi: Having changed the dynamics of lowcost manufacturing and become a global hub for small cars, India is now poised to emerge a centre for producing compact superbikes as Indian customers graduate to the next level of biking.
Several global and Indian bike makers plan to utilise India's mass-production base of 16-million bikes and scooter to roll out sports bikes in the 250cc capacity.
British firm Triumph has finalised its strategy to roll out its next global platform of the 250cc version of the Daytona from its greenfield facility near Bangalore, and its American rival Harley-Davidson is expected to follow suit. Chennai-based TVS Motors is developing new platform for German luxury automaker BMW, while Hero MotoCorp would showcase its all-new 250cc bike, made in collaboration with its American subsidiary Erik Buell Racing, in the 2014 Auto Expo.
"India is poised to become one of the largest sports bikes market in the 250cc segment," Vimal Sumbly, managing director at Triumph India, said.
"It is the most promising segment as we expect a large number of customers moving up the value chain and we are already working in that direction to tap the potential market," he told ET.
Triumph plans to roll out its bikes from India in the next two years.
Specialist bike makers are trying to cash in on Indian customers' increasing preference for higher displacement and bigger engine bikes, backed increasing aspiration levels and growing incomes of the new generation of buyers.
Automotive research and advisory firm Emerging Markets Automotive Advisors expects sale of big bikes in India to jump 50 per cent this year to 167,000 units from nearly 112,000 big bikes in 2012.EMMAAA forecasts superbike sales to rise to 708,000 units in 2022.
"The introduction of big brands like Harley and Triumph in the last few years has created this thirst for top-rated motoring experience and motorcycle enthusiasts have finally found access to global spec, high-powered speed machines," Deepesh Rathore, director at EMMAAA, said. "Going forward global manufacturers like Triumph, BWM and Harley-Davidson are rushing to develop smaller capacity machines to grow the market and quench the thirst of Indian bikers," he added.
The average motorcycle engine displacement index (AMEDI) has increased by around 8 per cent in the past decade. EMMAAA expects this index to climb much faster going by the shift in customer's preference and higher disposable incomes.
Bajaj Auto has the largest portfolio of sports bikes in the country, thanks to its Austrian subsidiary KTM. In the past Royal Enfield ruled the Indian big bike market with its 350-500 cc Bullets.
In Asia, sales of superbikes — having engine displacement in excess of 1,000 cc and costing upwards of Rs 10 lakh — increased 20 per cent last year, second only to 26 per cent growth in Latin America.
But in India super bike sales have slowed this year due to rapid devaluation of the rupee that has made imports expensive. This has forced manufacturers to go for smaller engine sizes to improve affordability and have a wider larger customer base in the coming years.
Harley-Davidson recently unveiled its Street range, the smallest Harleys with engine sizes of 750cc and 500cc. Its entry-level Superlow bike range starts at Rs 5.7 lakh.
Global players are also assembling bikes here to benefit from lower taxes of around 30 per cent compared to 100 per cent import duty on fully built bikes and scooters. Local assembly helped Harley cut the price of its iconic Fat Boy by almost 30 per cent to around Rs 15 lakh. Triumph, too, assembles six of the 10 bikes it sells in India at its facility in Manesar. Harley-Davidson plans to convert its Haryana CKD facility into a full-fledged manufacturing base.
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