New Bike Launches in India

After tasting success with the premium Vespa scooter, Piaggio is now aiming for bigger volumes with a new 125-cc gearless scooter.

Obviously, the latest offering will not boast the Vespa badge, and is rumoured to be christened as Piaggio ‘Fly’ or ‘Flyer’. Shedding the Vespa tag will help the new scooter sport an aggressive price tag of around Rs 55,000, which is more in tune with competition, like Honda Activa, Suzuki Swish, Mahindra Duro DZ etc. In-fact the Rs 50,000-to-Rs 55,000 scooter segment has grown by 24.5 % in 2011-12.

The ‘Flyer’ is said to sport trendy design on the lines of Honda Dio and newly launched Yamaha Ray, with its headlight uniquely position on the front fender and will retain some retro styling that has been appreciated even on the current Vespa. It will be equipped with telescopic forks up front and hydraulic shock absorbers in the rear. The model will have drum brakes in front and rear, but disc brake could be offered as an option. The new scooter will be powered by the same 125-cc engine like on the Vespa, which offers 10.06 PS and 10.06 Nm, though tuned to offer better fuel efficiency.

The final stages of testing of the scooter is on and homologation almost completed, the Piaggio’s latest scooter offering should reaching the showroom as early as next month. The company is anticipating huge demands and is in process of doubling dealerships to 100 in the next couple of months.

In other related news, Piaggio Group Americas has tied up with Paramount Pictures for the next instalment of the highly successful Transformers film franchisee. The partnership will include a a full slate of promotional and marketing initiatives nationwide including: a national dealer open house, free movie tickets, an advertising campaign and a sweepstakes awarding a Vespa scooter.

The Bologna motorcycle manufacturers have always considered Brazil as one of their most important markets for business.

Since, the shut down of the Izzo group, which were the current importer of the Ducati bikes in the land of the ‘Samba’ due to the current economic situation, the big bosses at Ducati took a decision regarding setting up of a wholly-owned subsidiary. Ducati’s move ensures the Italian brand’s ability to sell in the rapidly-growing South American economy.

Headquartered in São Paulo, this subsidiary will be Ducati’s base in Brazil. With extremely high tariffs imposed on foreign goods, importing complete knock-down (CKD) kits to Brazil, Ducati will have a minimal manufacturing presence in the South American country. It will be essential that assembling their motorcycles within Brazilian borders would be necessary in order to side-step loopholes in the Brazil import regulations.

However, the question remains whether there will be a decrease in prices on these Brazilian Ducatis or not? Gabriele Del Torchio, Ducati CEO has stated that, “The Brazilian motorcycle market is one of the most interesting and the third biggest in the world and Ducati has a very strong image in this country. The opening of this new subsidiary and the fact that our motorcycles will be assembled in the Manausplant is evidence of our focus on the Brazilian market. We wish to offer our customers here the best possible sale and after-sales service, and confirm the strategic importance assigned to this market by Ducati.”

Seen here in the picture: Ricardo Susini (Head, Ducati Brazil) with Ducati CEO Gabriele Del Torchio

TI cycles, one of the leading cycle brands in India have launched their ‘Montra’ performance cycle range in the country with their brand ambassador, Formula 1 racer, Karun Chandok.

Since the brand’s inception in 2011, the brand have inculcated many a firsts in the bicycle market in India, like the use of carbon fiber in production of their bikes.

Speaking on the launch, Rajesh Mani, GM, TI cycles stated, “We are delighted to have brand ambassador Karun Chandhok launch the new range of Montra Bicycles. We are proud to be the first Indian company to design and manufacture a wide range of world-class performance bikes catering to the affluent Indian”.

Karun Chandhok commented, “I rode the new hybrid bike, Montra Blues, and was fascinated by its ride comfort, design and paint finish. The ride was very comfortable on the Blues and “Montra” has created world class bikes with frame geometry suited for Indians. Knowing that these frames are indigenously manufactured in India, which is a remarkable feat by TI Cycles.”

The Montra range is being manufactured at the aluminum bicycle facility in Ambattur. Production is currently being ramped up to reach full utilization, while the firm has estimated to capture 15% of the performance bikes market in India. The Montra range will include three variants, which would be priced around the 17k mark. More details can be found at www.montra.in and www.trackandtrail.in

Regular readers might remember the buzz about a bigger Pulsar being on the cards; that news has now been confirmed by no less than Rajiv Bajaj, who announced that his R&D department is working on a 375cc Pulsar, expected to be launched in 2013.

The bigger Pulsar will not be as radical a redesign as the 200NS is, but will debut as an elder sibling of the 200NS. It will be equipped with a fuel-injected 375cc, single cylinder, triple-spark liquid-cooled engine, with power and torque expected to be around 32PS and 25Nm respectively. This new Pulsar will be sharing its engine with the KTM 375 bike which is currently in the works, and both are expected to be launched at around the same time in 2013.

With an expected price of INR 1.5-1.75 lacs, the big Pulsar could be a threat to the Kawasaki/Honda/Hyosung 250s, and might well become the king of affordable performance biking in India.

An Indonesian blog has leaked what is claimed to be a drawing of a forthcoming naked bike based on the latest Kawasaki Ninja 300

The drawing identifies the bike as a 250cc model, but just as the 250cc and 300cc Ninjas are visually identical, the sketch, if real, is likely to be an exact representation of a 300cc naked bike that the market expects to get. The drawing uses the name ER250C, which suggests it could be part of the same family as the parallel twin ER6 and possibly be called the ER3. The styling though has cues from the Z800 and Z1000, so a Z300 nomenclature might be more suitable as it would align the bike with Kawasaki’s sporty nakeds, just as the Ninja 300 is aligned with the ZX-6R and ZX-10R. The bike could also be named J300, as Kawasaki recently applied for a trademark on that name.

The engine, suspension, frame and wheels appear identical to the Ninja 250/300, but the styling is far more edgy and different than was expected. Kawasaki appears to have gone beyond just replacing the front fairing, and has included a new tank, seat unit and exhaust. There is a chance that this is not an official drawing, but the same blog has also revealed documents pertaining to the ER250C submitted by Kawasaki to the Indonesian transport authority. It is believed that Kawasaki might use its manufacturing facilities in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines to build the bike.

This could be big news, as there are very few naked quarter-liter bikes in the market, aside from the not-for-North-America Suzuki GW250. The Ninja 250 has been one of the most popular 250 in India too, so the new naked 300, if a reality, could be sweet news for Indian bike enthusiasts!

 

Source and pic courtesy: TMCBlog.com