MD Satya Sheel's family holds 26 per cent in the company.
Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) of Japan, which owns 74 per cent in its Indian two-wheeler venture —Suzuki Motorcycle India (SMIPL) – has indicated that it plans to increase its stake in the company. At present, the remaining 26 per cent equity is owned by the family of SMIPL’s managing director Satya Sheel.
“Internal discussions are on to raise our stake. No more comments,” said SMIPL joint MD Katsumi Takata today at the launch of the company’s first super-premium motorcycle brands Hayabusa and Intruder M 1800 R.
With the launch of these brands, SMIPL became the third motorcycle company after Yamaha and Italian premium motorcycle major Ducati to roll out high-end super performance motorcycles in the country.
Factoring in an import duty of 100 per cent, the company has priced Hayabusa (1,340 cc) and Intruder M 1800 R (1,800 cc) at Rs 12.50 lakh each (ex-showroom Delhi).
Suzuki has already received bookings for 28 units of the new models. “These two are 2009 models launched this year. Once we see demand for these models picking up, we will launch more models from the GSX family in the next six months,” said Atul Gupta, VP (sales & marketing), SMIPL.
Analysts peg the market potential of these high-end motorcycles at 1,000 units per annum. However, Suzuki pegs the actual sales potential at about 400 units per annum.
Yamaha launched R1 Y2F (1,000 cc) and MT01 (1,670 cc) last year and Ducati rolled out about seven models this year. While Yamaha’s models are priced between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 11 lakh, Ducati bike prices range from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. Precision Motors, which handles the sales of Ducati motorcycles in India, said it sold less than 50 units this year.
Honda plans to launch its own powerful motorcycles in the 800 cc category in the first quarter of next year.
Analysts say there are two major obstacles that need to be overcome before launching high-end motorcycles in the country. “Motocyclists have to be trained in riding these high-end bikes for their own safety and the safety of others on the road,” said N K Rattan, divisional head (sales & marketing), Honda India.
The second obstacle is spares and servicing. While spares have to be imported, technicians have to be trained. “Spares for our models are available within 48 hours notice. We’ve put in place Suzuki-trained mechanics at the dealer level,” said Gupta, who has spent Rs 25 lakh towards this effort.
The mass motorcycle market has posted a lacklustre growth of 7 per cent in the last seven months, compared to the same period last year. This slow growth is primarily on account of banks’ reluctance to financing two-wheelers. However, Gupta said that the same banks were eager to extend loans to customers for these heavy-duty motorcycles. “In addition to the current retail financing agreement with HDFC and Syndicate Bank, we are in talks with three PSU banks for a similar arrangement. For these banks, financing a Hayabusa is like financing a car,” Gupta said.
