Bajaj Auto will debut first KTM bike next month

Bajaj Auto, India’s second-largest two-wheeler maker, will roll out the first KTM bike in India in a few weeks.

The company is positive about the prospects of the Austrian bike maker’s products in the Indian market after their successful run in Europe.

Bajaj Auto holds a 38.09% stake in KTM, and according to reports, was looking to raise it to 49%.

The first bike to debut would be the KTM Duke 200, though it will not be displayed at the Auto Expo in New Delhi next month. The launch was earlier scheduled for the current year-end.

The 200cc Duke will be assembled at Bajaj Auto’s Chakan plant. The company had already started manufacturing these bikes in India for the European market, where KTM 125 was introduced a few months back.

The two companies signed an agreement in 2008 for jointly developing 125cc bikes in India for exports to the European market under the KTM brand.

“The bike is already leading the segment in the European market and we are all geared up for KTM’s entry in India,” said Amit Nandi, business head (KTM) for Bajaj Auto.

He said KTM Duke will be sold through company’s probiking showrooms, which currently sell Kawasaki bikes.

“We are in the process of converting these probiking showrooms into KTM showrooms.” The company currently has 30-35 such showrooms across in India and the Pune showroom has already been converted into KTM one.

Nandi said the Kawasaki bikes will continue to be sold through these showrooms. Currently, probiking contributes around 3,500 vehicles a month to the overall volumes of Bajaj Auto.

The KTM bikes will be offered in the range of Rs1-1.5 lakh and Bajaj Auto will launch more models going ahead.

Bajaj Auto will utilise the digital space for branding the new product.

“These are youthful and edgy bikes. It’s meant for people who are young at heart and will flaunt KTM’s signature colour - orange. The bikes are lightweight and fast, which will appeal to the target customers,” said Nandi.