Original Source: Noteworthy: Yamaha SZ TV Commercial from BikeAdvice.in

Yamaha SZ series is another successful product from Yamaha after R15 and FZ series. The SZ series has got good response across the country and it helped Yamaha to gain market share in Sports commuter segment. This is also another reason for having 30-40% growth in sales by Yamaha compared to last year. To strengthen its position in sports commuter segment Yamaha has now came up with new SZ TV commercial.

The New SZ TV commercial is mostly based on similar concept of Onida’s iconic tagline ‘Neighbour’s envy, owner’s pride’. This is concept of having things which others desire. The new TV commercial shows a guy speaking to her girlfriend that, people are always interested in others thing and take her on ride to show the same. There are a number of examples where he shows her while riding and when they stop on traffic signal every other motorcycle owner is looking at Yamaha SZ. The guy feels pride of owning Yamaha SZ in the end. Have a look to new commercial posted above.

Original Source: KTM Duke 200 is Getting a Good Response from BikeAdvice.in

KTM Duke 200 is getting tremendous response across the country. There are only 15 days have passed since Duke 200 is launched on 24^th January 2012, but KTM showrooms (Erstwhile Probiking showrooms) are flooded with inquiries. The company initially decided the booking amount of Rs. 30,000 but it was reduced to Rs. 20,000 when Duke 200 hit the showrooms. The booking amount was reduced to encourage more buyers.

The company is also charging Rs. 3,000 as cancellation charges if the booking is canceled, to avoid speculative bookings and timely delivery for genuine buyers. The waiting period is ranging from 30-90 days depending on the location of showrooms. The delivery is expected to start within 2-3 weeks time. KTM Duke 200 is the third motorcycle which is seeing such an encouraging response from the buyers after Honda CBR250R and Yamaha R15 V2.0.

Duke 200 is the first offering from Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM which comes with 200cc engine and power of 25 bhp. It would be easy for Duke 200 to start with 2,000 units a month which is very good figure, considering its price. It seems that KTM Duke 200 may outscore competition in terms of bookings. However, it is to be seen how it performs in longer run against the competition.

- Mahavir Kothari

Original Source: M&M Sells Its Stake in Engines Engineering from BikeAdvice.in

According to news reported by moneycontrol.com Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is selling its entire stake in Engines Engineering back to its original promoter Alberto Strazzari. M&M is selling its entire stake at good amount of premium which it bought in the year 2008 with the aim to strengthening its R&D capabilities for Mahindra Two Wheelers. Engines Engineering is the same company which has done work of fixing Sattlio’s gear box.

Engines Engineering is Europe’s number One motorcycle designer. It provides full range of activities starting from a basic idea on a blank sheet to a finished product on the road. It is a one stop solution for conception, design, styling, online assembly, industrialization and marketing. It’s client name includes some of the prestigious name in motorcycling world like Honda, Yamaha, Ducati, Benelli, Gilera etc.

According to reports the reason for stake sell is Engine Engineering’s client base, which is not comfortable with Engines Engineering close proximity with Mahindra two wheelers and Mahindra Engineering services. They questioned the possibility of Intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement. However, M&M said that it’s baseless fear and the IPR are protected with adequate firewalls. Engines Engineering will now act as independent advisor and consultant to M&M.

- Mahavir Kothari

Original Source: Bajaj to Come Up With Bikes Upto 700cc in India from BikeAdvice.in

Bajaj Auto Limited, the nation’s second largest player when it comes to two – wheelers has decided to bring in more high displacement bikes from KTM stable into India. Bajaj presently owns around 40 per cent share in KTM, Austrian bike maker known for its naked street bikes all across the globe.

The company will be launching bikes in the range of 200cc to 700cc in the coming years. Duke 200 was already launched for the Indian market a couple of weeks back and marks the entry of KTM into the Indian market. There is of course a great potential for these bikes here depending on the price tag they’ll be bearing along their necks.

Bajaj, though is on a lead in the race with its other counterparts like Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki, it becomes mandatory of it to come up with new products which will enhance the company in maintaining its current position and slowly to climb up the ladder. Bajaj Auto Limiter is interested in getting the leadership position in the premium bike segment in the years to come.

Bajaj aims to position the Pulsar in the value-for-money sports bike segment which has hot an amazing potential and Pulsar brand is already leading the race in this segment. Its Austrian partner KTM’s motorcycles will be fighting at the premium end of the market.

“We share the same development process with KTM, so you can expect there will be ‘a much bigger Pulsar’ next year, because we think the market is at an inflection point (at the premium end) and we are in a good position to take advantage with these two brands,” Managing Director, Mr. Rajiv Bajaj said.

The company will also be launching a 350 cc Pulsar for the Indian market next year.Now that should be great news for the PulsarManics out here. Bajaj said the company will come out with 350cc Pulsar next year and it is exploring even bigger motorcycles under the Pulsar brand. “There will be a 350 cc Duke next year, so you can expect something similar with the Pulsar next year. And going forward, in 2014-15 there will be even bigger KTM and even bigger Pulsar,” Bajaj said.

The company is also gearing up with the capacity of 1 00,000 units at its Chakan plant to cater the demand created for the company by its new range of Pulsars and the KTM motorcycles. The month of January saw to new bike launched from Bajaj – Duke 200 and the Pulsar 200NS (Naked Sport). Both these bikes have been jointly developed by Bajaj and KTM. The two companies are likely to jointly bring in 350 cc and 690 cc motorcycles under the Bajaj banner over the next few years. The joint R&D for vehicle and engine development will help the company to maintain the cost and help itself maintain a 20 per cent EBIDTA margins.

On the pricing front which determines a company’s success in the Indian market, price positioning will be similar in bigger models for the Pulsar and KTM brand, the Indian brand at the lower end and KTM at the premium end compared with that of the entire Pulsar line – up.

The next generation Pulsar motorcycles (200cc, 350 cc and above) will co – exist with the current range of Pulsars. With bigger motorcycles expected from the Japanese competition, experts say this Bajaj – KTM twin strategy should work for the company to cater to different end of the market. We of course, agree with this point here. The alliance between these two companies should be doing wonders for this company in the years to come.

Bajaj said the new motorcycles would help the company increase market share to 30 – 32 per cent, from a market share of 26 per cent as of now, as the market for premium – end motorcycles is expanding at a very rapid pace.

Auto experts say that with a rise in disposable income, the number of buyers will grow, but the segment will continue to be niche as the price bracket exceeds INR 1 lakh.

“The market is growing, yet it forms less than 1 per cent of the overall motorcycle market in the country. The sports bike category will continue to grow in double digits and there will be takers, yet it will form only 1 per cent to 2 per cent of the market and it will be niche category, at least in the medium term,” said Mahantesh Sabarad, auto analyst with Fortune Broking.

Bajaj Auto, which has an export turnover of nearly 6,500 crore with almost 1.5 million vehicles shipped annually sees the similar strategy being played out in the global markets too.

“I think this strategy of KTM-Pulsar acting together in the sports segment is a valid strategy anywhere in the world not just in India. We will look at leveraging this in many of our overseas markets in Latin America, Africa and South East Asia,” said Bajaj.

Regards,
M.Naren.
Author – BikeAdvice.in

Original Source: Yamaha Adds R15 V2.0 Limited Editions to Its Website from BikeAdvice.in

R15 V2.0 has been THE bike that has done wonders to Yamaha. It is indeed one of the most preferred bikes amongst the Indian youth.  Though there is a common mindset that 1.2 lakh is way too much for a 150cc bike, its continuous performance has made Indian bikers agree to the fact that it is worth every single buck spent on it.

We’d already posed that Yamaha has announced the launch of its anniversary edition of its R15 V2.0 with two special colours which are named WGP 5oth Anniversary Edition and the other one being Fiery Red Special Edition. Both these bikes are extremely hot looking and it’s always worth spending money on a limited edition bike. The reason being that the production of these bikes is just limited to a few 100 units and after selling them, you’ll never be able to get your hands on them as they’ll be off the production line.

There is absolutely no change that’s been carried over to this bike in terms of technical aspects. It’s just the colour scheme that has seen a change. The Fiery Red scheme is engulfed by fire flame design in form of graphics which begins flowing right from the front fairing and continues its flow till the rear. Brilliant work! Though it lacks the racing instinct in this all new colour scheme, I became a big fan of it, the moment I took a look at it in the Yamaha stall in the Auto expo.

Talking about the new White colour, it is just stunning in its looks, though it looks simple and humble unlike the other colour of this bike. The bike is completely painted in white with just a mild pinch of red stickering here and there without making it a red over – dose. The small rise in seat which appears between the rider’s and the pillion seat is coated with red which adds up the gorgeousness of the bike many – folds.

Most of the showrooms have already commenced bookings for this bike. Yamaha has now updated the images of these 2 limited edition in the R15V2.0 page under the colours tab. The R15 WGP limited edition is priced at INR 1,11,000 (Ex – Showroom, New Delhi) and the Fiery Red scheme is priced at INR 1,10,000 (Ex – Showroom, New Delhi).

Official Website

Regards,
M.Naren.
Author – BikeAdvice.in

Original Source: Bajaj’s Sales Performance for January from BikeAdvice.in

Bajaj Auto, India’s second largest player has reported a sales growth of 6.83 per cent for the month of January 2012. The company managed to sell 2,94,439 units of their bikes which is their highest ever for the month of January. Their sales figure for the same month the previous year stood at 2,94,439 units.

Bajaj Auto Limited said that the company’s exports grew 13.01 per cent during the month at a  figure of  1,16,996 units compared to 1,03,526 units in January 2011. The company manages to hit great sales figures through exports. It has marked its presence in several nations and with the pricing power which Bajaj products possess, they turn out to be number crunchers for the company. The company is constantly tapping the potential in several International markets with its wide array of products.

It’s always been with the case of Bajaj that most of their sales will churned out from two of its best brands – Pulsar and Discover. The new generation Pulsar was just launched on Monday and as our regular readers would be knowing it’s a 200cc naked bike which incorporates an all new engine featuring twin spark technology whose unique patents are with Bajaj Auto.  This technology will slowly be brought into the engines of Discover series as well.

Though the 2012 Pulsar is launched, it’ll more likely take another couple of months for it to hit the road. Let’s just wait to see what kinda sales figures would the new Pulsar be able to churn out for Bajaj Auto Limited.

Regards,
M.Naren.
Author – BikeAdvice.in

Original Source: HMSI Launches Next Generation Dio for Rs. 42,362 from BikeAdvice.in

After showcasing 7 new product at Atuo Expo 2012, India’s largest scooter manufacturing company Honda Motor scooters India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) has now launched the next generation Dio with the price tag of Rs. 42,362 Ex-showroom Delhi. The next generation Dio will be available in showroom by February end. The next generation Dio is built on a platform to give an unmatched ride experience with high level of fuel efficiency. The next generation Dio has been revised in all the parameters. Be it styling, ergonomics, safety or engine.

The next generation Dio has got new advance and highly reliable 110cc engine from Honda which is 10% more powerful than old Dio and can generate of power of 9 bhp. The new engine is equipped with several cutting edge technologies like roller rocker arm, reduced valve spring load, reduced cooling fan diameter size and better stability of weight roller & load of pulley spring. All this new features has enable next generation Dio to reduce friction and generate 15% more fuel efficiency than the old 102cc Dio which is around 55 Kmpl.

Next generation Dio has got all new unisex motoscooter styling. The aerodynamically designed front and the unique premium 3D emblem and sporty shaped integrated rear with elegant tail lamp will surely win the heart of youths. It has got host of new features like the new combi brake feature for improved riding stability and braking efficiency, tubeless tyres for better comfort and convenient riding, increased leg space for comfortable ride experience, convenient  maintenance free battery, Vicious air filter and spacious under seat luggage box.

The next generation Dio will be available in five colors – sports red, matt axis grey metallic, pearl sunbeam white, candy palm green and liblon violet metallic. With the ex-showroom price of 42,362 next generation Honda Dio will surely do good numbers.

- Mahavir Kothari 

Original Source: Yamaha’s Records 40% Growth in January from BikeAdvice.in

Yamaha made its initial foray into India in the year 1985. In the month of August 2001, Yamaha India became a 100 per cent subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd, Japan (YMC). In the year 2008, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. entered into an agreement with YMC to become a joint-investor in the motorcycle manufacturing company “India Yamaha Motor Private Limited, abbreviated as (IYM)”.

India Yamaha Motor, the Indian subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Company, has recorded     good performance in this New Year with high sales growth backed by its dynamic product portfolio, registering an overall sales growth of 40 per cent. In the domestic market Yamaha sold 26,300 units in January 2012 as against 21,974 units sold in the same period last year thereby registering a 20 per cent sales growth. The export figures stood at 13,640 units in January 2012 while 6,623 motorcycles were exported in the month of January 2011. The overall sales stood at 39,940 units in January 2012 vs. 28,597 units in January 2011.

Speaking on this results produced by the company, Mr. Hiroyuki Suzuki, CEO & Managing Director, India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd., said, “Continuing with 2011 Sales trend, we are very happy with the growth registered in January and plan to keep the momentum high for the rest of 2012. We attribute this growth to the success of our flagship models both in the deluxe & premium segments – R15, FZ series & SZ series. We are planning to enhance our Best 3S (Sales, Service & Spares) set-up in tier-2 & tier-3 cities and increase our customer touch points in the rural areas to further boost our sales.”

IYM operates from its state-of-the-art manufacturing units located at Surajpur in Uttar Pradesh & Faridabad in Haryana and produces motorcycles both for domestic & export markets. With a strong workforce of more than 2,000 employees, IYM is highly customer-driven and has a countrywide network of over 400 dealers. Presently, its product portfolio includes VMAX – 1,679cc, MT01 – 1,670cc, YZF-R1 – 998cc, FZ1 – 998cc, Fazer – 153cc, FZ-S – 153cc, FZ – 153cc, SZ, SZ-X & SZ-R – 153cc, YZF-R15 Version 2.0 – 150cc, SS125  – 123cc, YBR 125 – 123cc, YBR 110 -106cc and Crux -106cc.

Yamaha will also be launching its scooter range into the Indian market in a few months from now. With the current demand for scooters out here, expect the performance of the company to go up in the coming days.

Regards,
M.Naren.
Author – BikeAdvice.in

Original Source: TVS Motors Posts 7% Revenue Growth in Q3 from BikeAdvice.in

South India based TVS Motor Company, which is the country’s third largest player in the Indian market has registered a growth rate of 7 per cent in terms of revenue in the third quarter of the current financial year. The company’s revenues grew to a whooping sum of INR 1762 crore in the quarter which ended by last December from INR 1647 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

Profit before tax (PBT) during the quarter under review was higher at a sum of INR 75.56 crore, compared to INR 70.29 crore recorded in the same period of the previous year. Profit after tax (PAT) in the current quarter was INR 56.53 crore compared to Rs. INR 55.75 crore in the previous comparable quarter. For the period from April 2011 to December 2011 , the company’s cumulative PBT and PAT were substantially higher than the comparable period of the previous year. While cumulative PBT for nine months ending December 2011 increased to INR 254.28 crore from INR 188.52 crore in the previous year, the cumulative PAT for nine months ending December 2011 increased to INR 191.84 crore from INR 150.90 crore reported in the previous comparable period.

In the third quarter of the current fiscal, the company reported total two-wheeler sales at 5.19 lakh units, compared with 5.18 lakh units in the corresponding period of the previous year. Scooter sales grew by 11% to 1.38 lakh units in the current quarter from 1.24 lakh units during the corresponding quarter of the previous year, while motorcycles registered sales of 1.93 lakh units in the reporting quarter against 2.11 lakh units in the quarter ended December 2010.  .

Two wheeler exports registered 24% growth with sales increasing to 63700 units in the current quarter from 51441 units in the quarter ended December 2010.
During the quarter, PT TVS Motor Company Indonesia, a wholly owned subsidiary of TVS Motor Company has registered total two wheeler sales of 4033 units in comparison with 3800 units recorded in the same period of the previous year.  For the nine months ending December 2011, PT TVS Motor Company recorded cumulative sales growth of 28 per cent with 18,905 units against 14,809 units in the comparable period of the previous year.

Regards,
M.Naren.
Author – BikeAdvice.in

Original Source: Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS – Launch Report from BikeAdvice.in

I shouldn’t say it was a long wait for the Next Generation Pulsar to be launched. Rather I should mention we all have waited on and on and on and looks like God has finally answered all our long – standing prayers. Mr. Bajaj had given life to his words. He had mentioned sometime back that the next generation of Pulsars will be based on a whole new platform and will be the first bike to incorporate a few technologies. That is what exactly Bajaj Auto has done for the Pulsar.

The launch of the 2012 Pulsar took place in Mumbai for a change and the venue was ITC Grand Central this time. There weren’t much of fanfare created in the hotel premises by placing posters or bill – boards here and there. The launch was scheduled at 2 PM and the rooms of the ball room opened right then.

There was an unexpected surprise waiting for us as all the Pulsar models right from its inception in the year 2001 was kept on display. The first Classy looking Pulsar with round headlamp made me stare at her for quite sometime as this is my favourite Pulsars ever. Next to that in the queue was the DTS-i variant and you know the history of Pulsars very well. The Pulsar 135 and the ‘Speed Lines’ variant of the 220 were formed the closing of this long line. There was a small board kept beside every bike displaying their year of launch and their special features, of course.

There was a video played which featured all the commercials of Pulsar till date from the very first commercial which emphasized its tagline ‘Definitely Male’. I really had a nice time watching all these TVCs. I t instilled a sense of Nostalgia within me. Then as an end note of this video was played the 10th anniversary video of Pulsar which we’d posted a long time back in BikeAdvice.

With this ended the hypes that surrounded the bike to be launched. The launch ceremony then begun with an inaugural speech of Mr. K Srinivas, President, Two Wheelers, Bajaj Auto. He said, “Pulsar as a brand is moving front and forward.” He said that he wanted to explain the question ‘What makes Pulsar a legendary bike?’

Here are the points he mentioned:

• “When you see one, you recognize one.” Think about the sentence he said and then you’ll understand that every ‘PulsarManiac’ in the country would happily rejoice. He said that the characteristics of Pulsar which includes the fuel tank, the LED lamps, wolf eyes and the speedo are all unique only to Pulsars.
• “Pulsar satisfies the burning desire and not the need.” In the year 2001 when first Pulsar was launched for the Indian market, the entire market was dominated entirely by commuter bikes and Bajaj daringly ventured into the Sport – Bike segment.
• Thrill of riding is now affordable because of Pulsars. Ina market when ‘Fill it, Shut it and Forget it’ was what drove the minds of Indians, it needs a lot of guts to come up with a bike like Pulsar. (I didn’t tell this. He told!)
• Today, around 1 Mn Pulsars are sold worldwide in around 25 countries which includes Philippines and Columbia to name a few.
• Pulsar has become a part of culture and then he added that Pulsar is viral as well.

Then came to stage Mr. Mr. Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto to talk a few words about the Pulsar brand of bikes. He marked the beginning of his speech by telling, “When we first made the Pulsar, we didn’t make it for any of the reasons. We simply made it because that was US. ”

In order to explain his quote further he used Dr. Porsche’s famous words ‘I couldn’t find the car I want. Si, I decided to make it.’ Similarly he said the country didn’t have the kinda bike that he’d imagined and so they decided to make their own one by coming up with the Pulsar. He thwen added, “We’re more excited to see the bike and in fact you all would have only half the excitement as us.”

Then started the interesting part of his speech. He referred Pulsar as ‘A Three Layered Animal’. The following are the 3 layers mentioned by him.

• Pulsar As A Product – He referred to the best in class functionalities that Pulsar boasts of when one talk about Pulsar as a product from the stable of Bajaj.
• Pulsar As A Brand – He claimed that Pulsar is nothing less than the most profitable bike on Planet Earth. Bajaj currently works on an operating profit margin of 20 per cent for Pulsars and them he generalized it for all the Bajaj products. He said, “If a Brand is not profitable and cannot produce better business results and lacks pricing power, then it cannot be claimed as a Brand at all.”
• Pulsar As A Strategy – 40 years before the launch of Pulsar, the entire strategy of Bajaj goes in one word – Chetak. People visualized Chetak as a value for money, family vehicle, low cost, durable and a reliable product. He was indeed right. India cannot forget Chetak so easily.

He said the company’s ascent is to make a better and better Pulsar every passing day. He added, “Earlier, Chetak was Bajaj’s centre of gravity and now Pulsar is Bajaj’s centre of gravity. “

He had some interesting points about the Discover brand too. He claims, “Discover is nothing but the commuterized version of Pulsar.” “Even KTM comes from the learnings of Pulsar though both are entirely different products.” Here is the statement which will make every PulsarManiac roam around with his collars up atleast for the next couple of days. He said, “If Pulsar goes wrong, the entire strategy of Bajaj goes wrong. If Pulsar gets it right, so does Bajaj.”

Though the first Pulsar was launched only in the year 2001, the background work for it begun as early as 1998.

Then the dais was taken over by Mr. Abraham Joseph, Chief Technology Officer, Bajaj Auto. He handles brilliantly the features and the engineering aspects f the Pulsar 200 NS. He compared all the aspects with the P220 so as to get a better clarity. He said, P220 is the benchmark for performance bikes till now.

The moment finally came when a guy in racing attire brought the Pulsar 200 NS to the stage from backdrop. That’s when we really gotta take a first glimpse of the 2012 Pulsar 200NS. The first look was just great and was more stunning to know that this time it was a naked bike. I’ve posted all the details of this bike in a separate post titled ‘Insights of Pulsar 200NS’.

So, this is what exactly happened in the venue of the bike’s launch which was indeed much awaited. The bike will most probably be hitting the showrooms in the month of April. The price as I’d mentioned in other posts is less than a lakh and we don’t know the exact price till now. We’ll update it soon in the blog as soon as we get to know about it.

Regards,
M.Naren
Author – BikeAdvice.in