DSK Motowheels’ alliance with the Korean sport – bike maker Hyosung is something which all of us are pretty much aware of. The Pune based company has expressed its plans of investing INR 600 crores over a period of next 5 years. This investment is planned mainly towards setting up a full fledged production unit for Hyosung bikes and a minor sum of money will also be pumped in establishing a Research & Development (R&D) centre. Pune is fast coming up as a R&D hub for automobiles.
Upcoming Bikes in year 2015 – Hyosung Entry Level 125cc and 150cc Bikes
Guess what? In India, the entry level commuter segment is a great place for every giant to play around with. It’s a very well known fact to every company that ‘If you have to be, you have to be in India’. The rising population of youth, the rise in per capita income and the overall development that Indian economy edges over most other developed nations make India an ideal market to pitch in, but of course at the right time.
Hyosung has now planned to enter the 125cc segment and the 150cc segment where there’s an enormous growth potential that stays hidden. These models will be launched somewhere in 2015 – 2016 and will be fully developed and built in India with the help of this Korean giant.
In a recent press meet, Shirish Kulkarni, Director, DSK Motowheels said, “The idea is to start local manufacturing of Hyosung bikes by 2014. We are setting up a plant with a capacity of one lakh units and the total investment would be around Rs 500-600 crore in the next five years.”
What actually fascinates us is the fact that the company plans for local production. This would in turn bring down the prices of Hyosung bikes considerably evading heavy duties that is oiled up on importing most of its bikes as Completely Built Units (CBU).
Hyosung Motorcycle Manufacturing plant in Pune
The company is all set to begin with the establishment of new plant as it has already identified a site on the out – skirts of Pune which is 100 acres by itself. Facilities that would come here will include a paint shop, an assembly line and a Research & Development centre. This would make it a full – fledged plant and would be capable of expanding in the near future with the line – up of entry level bikes for the Indian market.
The newly launched Hyosung GT250R, which saw its launch for the Delhi market this week, will be the first product to be rolled out from this yet – to –build facility. Once, the GT250R’s production is fully localized, the price would come down to around 2 lakhs of INR and for the price, it is seriously a good bet to buy and own one.
The investment of INR 600 crores is slated in 2 phases with an initial one of 300 crores and the same amount in the second phase as well. “In the first or second quarter of 2014, we will start manufacturing GT250R at the plant. The initial investment in the first phase will be around Rs 300 crore and in the second phase, another Rs 250-300 crore will be invested,” Shirish said.
Hyosong 150cc Bike in Q1, 2015
Regarding the coming up of entry level bike, he said, “We want to enter the commuter segment as well. By the first quarter of 2015, we plan to launch a 150 cc bike and by the end of the same year or early 2016, we are looking at introducing 125 cc bike.”
The works for the 150cc bike has already begun and the design team is on wheels to get this done at the earliest.
On a broader view, the company plans to have its portfolio with 8 models by the end of 2015. Currently, it has 4 models in India viz, GT650R, ST7, GT650N and the recently launched GT250R. The yet – to – be launched models are GV650 and the GV250. There will also be another cruiser model. “By the end of 2015, we will have a total of eight models in the Indian market. We will be bringing in new models such as GV650, GV250 and another cruiser model. At present, the company sells four models in India and by 2014, it will go up to six,” he added.
As a part of company’s target in terms of volumes for the current fiscal, the bike maker forecasts 2000 bikes to be sold by March of 2013. It seems that the company currently has around 3000 booking out of which only 200 have been delivered so far. The coming up of the new plant should help in enhancing this figure further.
So guys, what’s your set of expectations from the Hyosung’s 150cc bikes? Will they be sporty enough to take the present models from other companies head – 0n? Post your suggestions and comments in the box below.
Regards,
Naren.
Team BikeAdvice.
