Suzuki to launch 150cc bike by March

Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMIPL) plans to enter the premium segment motorcycle market in India with the launch of a 150cc motorcycle by next March. At present, the company has two motorcycles "� Suzuki Heat and Zeus "� in the 125cc segment, selling around 6,000 units per month.

Said Atul Gupta, vice-president (sales and marketing), SMIPL, "In our effort to achieve 4 per cent market share in the two-wheeler segment by 2010, we need to have at least six products in our portfolio. It is not possible to achieve this target with just two bikes and one scooter. So, we are planning to expand our product portfolio to at least six products, two of which will be scooters. In this process, the next logical step for us is to have a product in the above 150cc segment."

At present, the size of the premium segment bike market is about 6.8 lakh units per annum. Bajaj Auto is leading this segment with 70 per cent market share with four offerings "� Pulsar 150cc, 180cc, 200cc and 220cc.

Other products in the category include Hero Honda's Achiever, CBZ Extreme and Karizma, while TVS has two models "� TVS Apache 150cc and Apache 160cc RTR.

There are other players such as Royal Enfield and Yamaha whose presence is negligible.

However, Suzuki aims to enter this segment with technologically superior offerings and competitively priced products, said Gupta.

"We have a wide range of products in global portfolio. We are working on the type of product to be brought here," he said.

Katsumi Takata, joint managing director, SMIPL, said, "We have recently increased our plant capacity from one lakh units to 1.70 lakh and will further ramp it up to 2.20 lakh in the next financial year. That will take care of our product expansion."

The company, which has just launched 125cc scooter, Suzuki Access, would launch one more scooter in the next two years, he said, adding that the company aims to capture 10 per cent of the midsize scooter market in the next one year. To start with, it aimed at selling 5,000 units per month, he said.

"We are still in investment mode and will be investing another Rs 150 crore to increase the plant capacity to 3.50 lakh units by 2010. Apart from capturing 4 per cent market share in the Indian two-wheeler market, we also aim to make India the export hub for Asian markets," Takata said, adding that the company has just started exporting to Nepal. Next year it aims to export to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.