Rural India holds the key for growth for us : Suzuki Motorcycle MD

Suzuki Motorcycle India is moving into overdrive with new models appealing to different segments. It plans to replicate the Suzuki brand's success in car sales with its scooters and motorcycles, launching a couple of models every year from here on. It has bikes in the 110cc, 125cc and 150cc segments. Within no time, it has figured out how to succeed in India, and realises the rural market holds the key. To achieve this, the company has launched a mass market motorcycle Hayate, at an aggressive price of about Rs 40,000. The company is doubling its manufacturing capacity by setting up another plant at Rohtak. The Managing Director of Suzuki Motorcycle India, Mr Ichiro Kondo, is optimistic about the company's growth plans. From sales volumes of about 3,60,000, we are looking at about 4,50,000 this year, and possibly 5,40,000 a year later, he said. During his meeting here after the launch of the company's new bike, he told Business Line how they plan to expand their presence in the country. Excerpts from the interview: What are your plans for India? From a Suzuki corporation perspective, India is a crucial market. We want to do with motorcycles what Suzuki Motor has managed to achieve with cars in the country. The brand has a powerful presence here and we connect well with end-users. The first few years in this run-up shows growing acceptance. Therefore, we plan to replicate the success achieved by Suzuki. When do you see yourself clocking the one-million-bike sales mark? We have already sold more than a million bikes in India but not in a single year. We hope to hit the half-million mark soon in a year. We are in the process of setting up a new plant at Rohtak. In all, our investment will be about Rs 500 crore. Once this plant is ready by 2014, we will have the capacity to produce one million bikes a year. We started with scooters and have gradually moved on to motorcycles. Eighty per cent of the sales achieved last year was from scooters. We plan to gradually change this mix as the motorcycle sales business goes up. Are you looking at higher capacity bikes? We have launched a mass market bike in the 110 cc category at an attractive price point. This squeezes our margins. Yet it is an important offering. Of the million bikes sold in the country per month, 45 per cent come from this segment. Of this, 65-70 per cent sales are in the rural market. Therefore, this market is vital to garnering volumes. What is the basis for your confidence on the rural market? I have travelled extensively and assessed the rural market and its potential. The economy is growing, people's aspirations are up and purchasing power has gone up. Therefore, I believe rural India holds the key for growth of the motorcycle business for us. There is a need for affordable bikes in the rural areas. People use them for business and to travel along with family