New Bike Launches in India

Suzuki to open a new manufacturing plant

Suzuki Motorcycle India Private Limited (SMIPL), a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan is all set to build a new two wheeler plant at Rohtak in Haryana. The Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan (SMC) had set up SMIPL in 2004 for the manufacturing and sales of two wheelers. SMIPL started wheeling out two wheelers from 2006 from its Gurgaon plant in Haryana. SMIPL has plans to build an additional two wheeler and components plant. Planned production capacity of this plant is 5lac units, and the plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2014. If the two wheeler market in India expands, expansion of this SMIPL plant may also be on the cards. In SMIPL , at present 2 models of scooters and 2 models of motorcycles are being produced in the Gurgaon Plant and production achievement of year 2011 was 3.5 lakh which is up by 122% of the previous year.

Audi to pay $1.12 billion for Ducati, including debt

Audi has agreed to buy Ducati from owners Investindustrial for about 860 million euros ($1.12 billion) including debt, sources familiar with the companies told news-agencies on Tuesday. The iconic Bolognese manufacturer’s total liabilities are less than 200 million euros according to Investindustrial, and the deal would value Ducati at about seven times last year’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, minus debt. Both the companies involved in the deal has declined to release specific details about the deal until the annual VW shareholders’ meeting scheduled for Thursday, 19th April.

Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech, who turned 75 on Tuesday, has long coveted the brand, publicly expressing interest in buying Ducati four years ago before eventually losing out to Investindustrial. The purchase will now make Ducati the 11th brand in VW’s portfolio, alongside such revered supercar marques as Lamborghini and Bugatti and heavy-duty truck manufacturers Scania AB and MAN SE.

 

Component revision affects earlier schedule

We rode the Pulsar 200NS on Bajaj Auto’s test track in February this year to come back with the impression that this was the best Pulsar made so far. We had also said that it would be launched in April after the KTM 200 Duke. However, the bike had not appeared in the showrooms yet. The reason?

Bajaj are betting big on the Pulsar 200NS and they want it to be just perfect. The automotive media, though generally impressed by the bike, had a thing or two to suggest after the pre-launch ride, to which the company was receptive. A limited number of bikes were also given out to commuters while the company was busy testing the bike in real world conditions. Based on this feedback, the company is making minor changes to fine-tune their offering.

From what we hear, Bajaj are working on a few components inside the engine to improve refinement. The headlight will get a more powerful bulb and some of the body components are undergoing quality revision.

Now the bike is expected to be launched some time this month. Well, as they say, a stitch in time saves nine.

 

Garware Motors officially confirms GT250R for India

Following months of speculations amongst Indian bikers, Garware Motors have finally announced that they are going to launch the Hyosung GT 250R in India. The Korean two-wheeler major is no stranger to the 250cc segment in India, having first sold the Comet ( in collaboration with the now-defunct Kinetic Motors) a long time before other manufacturers had even started thinking about the segment. However, limited availability and high costs of spares created a lukewarm reception for what was an otherwise excellent motorcycle.

This time round, the company will leave no stones unturned to make the 250 a success and will also offer tempting finance schemes to woo buyers. The biggest challenge for the Korean bike-makers will be to price the GT250R competitively in view of the massive import duties and taxes it attracts. Most of the 200-cc to 250-cc bikes are priced well under Rs 2 lakh, except the Ninja 250R, which costs close to Rs 3 lakh.

The company already sells three of their unique models, ST7 Royale, GT 650R and GT 650N across the country with 16 dealership which also includes presence in tier II and tier III cities. As with the bigger GT 650R, there is a distinct possibility that Hyosung will also introduce a naked version of the GT 250R soon.

Watch out for a full road test in our forthcoming issue of Bike India.

 

Basic Specifications Hyosung GT 250R:

Engine Type: Air / Oil cooled DOHC 8-valve 75° V-twin

Displacement: 249cc

Max Power: 26.27 bhp (19.6kW) / @10,000RPM

Max Torque: 21.04Nm / @6,750RPM

Mr. Yadvinder S Guleria succeeds Mr. Naresh K. Rattan as Vice President, Sales & Marketing, HMSI

Close on the heels of the announcement that Mr. Naresh K. Rattan, Board Member and Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI), has resigned from his post, HMSI has announced that Mr. Yadvinder S Guleria will take over his position.

Mr. Rattan joined HMSI as Head Sales in August, 2000 and was responsible for setting up the vital sales & marketing operations in domestic as well as international markets. He led the business to No. 3 position in India. During his tenure, he passionately developed many effective business processes and sales quality-up systems like Dealer Management System (DMS), Retail management, Customer Relations Management (CRM), Joint Promotion and dispatch systems etc. After a memorable and exciting association of close to 12 years, the Board has agreed to relieve Mr. Rattan on March 10, 2012. He was handling portfolio of Operating Head – Sales Planning and Marketing and Operating Head – Corporate Affairs.

Mr. Yadvinder S Guleria returns to Honda as the Vice President, Sales & Marketing, HMSI w.e.f. April 2, 2012. He left the Japanese two-wheeler manufacturer last year and went on to join the U.S. based all-terrain vehicle maker, Polaris as director for sales and dealer development.