Will India save motorcycling?
Added on Friday, November 6th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Will India save motorcycling?
Motorcycle markets in Europe and the USA may be in recession, but sales of leisure motorbikes in India are set to grow rapidly, writes Alastair Walker.
Whilst Harley-Davidson sees revenues plummet 84%, has closed down Buell and Moto Morini and Voxan slip into bankruptcy, Indian manufacturers are struggling to meet demand in an economy which is booming, unlike most of the developed `Western’ economies.
Enfield India recently launched new fuel-injected Bullet models for their home market and told the business press that they intend to double their production at the Enfield Chennai plant to around 10,000 units per month.
Enfield’s boss Siddartha Lal also told the press that Enfield have two new models in development for 2010 and beyond. There’s no doubt that a budget retro machine, which offers slightly more power, with a twin cylinder engine, would find buyers, especially if it canoffer Enfield’s legendary fuel economy.
Meanwhile Harley-Davidson and Ducati have both set up wholly owned subsidiaries in India. This is a significant step for both manufacturers and it highlights the sea change which is about to transform the motorcycle market across India, one of the biggest in the world. Most bikes sold at present are sub-125cc commuters, but Ducati think that their best-selling bike will be the Multistrada 1200.
Ducati’s Indian marketing boss told the press that the Italian brand intends to open two stores in 2010, one in Mumbai, one in Delhi and has already been approached by 20 potential dealers. `The enquiries for the Multistrada and Monster have been phenomenal.’ say Ducati, who see huge growth in a country which has a growing wealthy class who want expensive cars, motorcycles and consumer goods. Ducati also stated that they are negotiating parts supply deals in India.
Sales are rocketing across India at present; Suzuki saw motorcycle sales jump 41% in October, Bajaj rose 52% last month and Hero Honda almost doubled its profits during the July-September quarter in 2009. No European manufacturer, or Euro market, is likely to get near that kind of growth in the next decade.
If motorcycle manufacturers can sell millions of units in India, and more importantly ride the boom in bigger leisure machines that Indian and Chinese buyers will want over the next decade, then that profitability should offset the weakness in Europe and the USA. In a nutshell, that huge spike in revenue may save the motorcycle industry in the longer term.
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