According to the deal, a range of Kawasaki bikes including Ninja 250, Sports Roadster, Ninja ZX-6R, Z1000 and the Vulcan Cruiser will be . marketed by Bajaj Auto at its Probiking showrooms across the country.
In return, Bajaj will get assistance in technology and design development from Kawasaki for its future products. Kawasaki will also tap into Bajaj's extensive supplier base for sourcing components.
Kawasaki will also provide the necessary service training and parts back-up to ensure the upkeep of the high performance bikes.
Shinichi Tamba, president, Kawasaki Consumer Products and Machinery Company, said: "India is a very important market for KHI and Bajaj Auto is a strong partner. The Indian market is in the cusp of progressing to big bikes and Kawasaki is highly regarded in this segment."
To start with, the Ninja 250 model will be assembled at Bajaj's Chakan facility to tackle the heavy import duties. The 250cc, 30PS bike will be brought down in the form of completely knocked down (CKD) kits from Kawasaki's Thailand plant. Through this, the alliance also stands to gain from low duties in India-Thailand bilateral trade on account of the free trade agreement (FTA). This suggests that the bikes would be priced attractively, although the prices were not disclosed.
Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto, said: "Both companies have synergised their strengths to widen the portfolio in respective markets. The domestic customer can now experience the power of big biking while Kawasaki customers in the Philippines are already experiencing the range of Bajaj products for the past few years. We are in discussion to extend the Philippines business model to other countries as well."
Bajaj has made ten probiking showrooms operational with a presence in all major markets and plans to have ten more go on-stream by end of March this year.