 "Smooth landing for Agusta on Indian roads")
Italian bike maker M V Agusta on Wednesday announced its entry into India, going head-to-head against premium superbikes Ducati, Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha and Triumph. The bike will also go up against the iconic Harley-Davidson, a different product which sells in a similar price range. The bikes, among the most expensive in the country today are being launched through a tie up with the Firodia family-led Kinetic group. Agusta's debut also marks the Kinetic group's re-entry into a space it vacated nearly eight years ago when it sold the two-wheeler business to Mahindra & Mahindra.
M V Agusta, a 70-year old bike maker, will launch three models - the F4, F3 800, and Brutale 1090 along with several variants, all priced between Rs 17-50 lakh. Some models will be partially made in India while others will be imported from Italy. India is the only country after Brazil where the company is setting up a manufacturing facility outside Italy.
Judah Immanuel Sangaran, country manager (Far East), MV Agusta Motor said, "Worldwide sales increased by 30 per cent last year. India is a very important market. The country sells 14 million bikes per year and out of this 12,000 are superbikes. The demand for superbikes in India has exploded."
Agusta has been on an expansion spree; apart from India, it has travelled to Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and more recently China. Sales have surged as a result with the company clocking close to 9,000 units last year. In India Agusta hopes to sell 300 units by the end of 2016 and is targeting 400-600 units next year.
The bikes will be marketed, distributed and manufactured by the Pune-based Kinetic group. Ajinkya Firodia, managing director, MV Agusta India, said, "Two wheelers are very addictive. We believe it is in our blood. The rational reasons for getting ourselves back into this business are the know-how of sales, spares, marketing and manufacturing. We have the infrastructure to assemble these bikes and make them a value proposition."
Why did it take the group so long to get back? Firodia said, "We were looking for the perfect brand. Plus, our Ahmednagar plant was not ready for assembling the super bikes. We have revamped the plant and it is now fully equipped to make these bikes." The group has invested Rs 5 crore in the facility and the F3 800, priced at Rs 16.78 lakh, will be assembled here. Firodia is upbeat about the bike, which he says is Agusta's most successful product globally. "The 148 bhp bike will have three colour options. A limited edition version of the bike will also come out later called F3 800 RC. We will be delivering four of these tomorrow," he added. According to the company, several people have called in asking after the new bikes. Of the 160 enquiries so far, 115 have been for the F3 800, indicating latent demand for the bike.
Another variant, the F4, the company says will come in three versions (base, RR and limited edition RC). "The top speed will be close to 300 kph. We have sold two F4 RR at Rs 35 lakh (ex-showroom). The RC is priced at Rs 50.01 lakh making it the costliest bike in India. We have one customer already for the RC from Surat," added Firodia.
The fourth bike from the stable will be the Brutale 800 which saw its global launch recently. The bike is expected to be in India by December or during the January-March quarter next year.
Agusta will unveil its first new showroom Motoroyale on Thursday in Pune which will be followed by five more (Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai) in the next two to three months. A further six new showrooms will be added next year.
For Kinetic the launch of Agusta marks a full circle. The group was among the pioneers in the business.
Its two-wheeler operations began 40 years ago with the Luna, which was the most affordable two-wheeler of its time. With Agusta it has come back into the category, but in the premium bike segment. This is the group's second stab at the superbike market. It had an association with South Korea's super bike maker Hyosung from 1998 to 2001 for the brand Aquila but the venture never really took off. The market was not ready for a superbike then, the company believes. "It was too early to be in the business. Today, the market condition is totally different. The demand for super bikes is growing and by 2020, it is estimated to reach up to 20,000 units per annum," said Firodia. Price, it seems, is no barrier for India's growing breed of bikers.
M V Agusta, a 70-year old bike maker, will launch three models - the F4, F3 800, and Brutale 1090 along with several variants, all priced between Rs 17-50 lakh. Some models will be partially made in India while others will be imported from Italy. India is the only country after Brazil where the company is setting up a manufacturing facility outside Italy.
Judah Immanuel Sangaran, country manager (Far East), MV Agusta Motor said, "Worldwide sales increased by 30 per cent last year. India is a very important market. The country sells 14 million bikes per year and out of this 12,000 are superbikes. The demand for superbikes in India has exploded."
Agusta has been on an expansion spree; apart from India, it has travelled to Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and more recently China. Sales have surged as a result with the company clocking close to 9,000 units last year. In India Agusta hopes to sell 300 units by the end of 2016 and is targeting 400-600 units next year.
The bikes will be marketed, distributed and manufactured by the Pune-based Kinetic group. Ajinkya Firodia, managing director, MV Agusta India, said, "Two wheelers are very addictive. We believe it is in our blood. The rational reasons for getting ourselves back into this business are the know-how of sales, spares, marketing and manufacturing. We have the infrastructure to assemble these bikes and make them a value proposition."
Why did it take the group so long to get back? Firodia said, "We were looking for the perfect brand. Plus, our Ahmednagar plant was not ready for assembling the super bikes. We have revamped the plant and it is now fully equipped to make these bikes." The group has invested Rs 5 crore in the facility and the F3 800, priced at Rs 16.78 lakh, will be assembled here. Firodia is upbeat about the bike, which he says is Agusta's most successful product globally. "The 148 bhp bike will have three colour options. A limited edition version of the bike will also come out later called F3 800 RC. We will be delivering four of these tomorrow," he added. According to the company, several people have called in asking after the new bikes. Of the 160 enquiries so far, 115 have been for the F3 800, indicating latent demand for the bike.
Another variant, the F4, the company says will come in three versions (base, RR and limited edition RC). "The top speed will be close to 300 kph. We have sold two F4 RR at Rs 35 lakh (ex-showroom). The RC is priced at Rs 50.01 lakh making it the costliest bike in India. We have one customer already for the RC from Surat," added Firodia.
The fourth bike from the stable will be the Brutale 800 which saw its global launch recently. The bike is expected to be in India by December or during the January-March quarter next year.
Agusta will unveil its first new showroom Motoroyale on Thursday in Pune which will be followed by five more (Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai) in the next two to three months. A further six new showrooms will be added next year.
For Kinetic the launch of Agusta marks a full circle. The group was among the pioneers in the business.
Its two-wheeler operations began 40 years ago with the Luna, which was the most affordable two-wheeler of its time. With Agusta it has come back into the category, but in the premium bike segment. This is the group's second stab at the superbike market. It had an association with South Korea's super bike maker Hyosung from 1998 to 2001 for the brand Aquila but the venture never really took off. The market was not ready for a superbike then, the company believes. "It was too early to be in the business. Today, the market condition is totally different. The demand for super bikes is growing and by 2020, it is estimated to reach up to 20,000 units per annum," said Firodia. Price, it seems, is no barrier for India's growing breed of bikers.