So 890 Adventure, 890 Duke launch in India is not happening and if you were waiting for them, it is time you look beyond the Austrian maker…
KTM-Bajaj’s collaboration is now one-million+ bikes old and that is a massive achievement. Many years back, Bajaj invested in KTM when the Austrian brand was not doing well. Together, with KTM’s technical expertise and Bajaj’s low-cost manufacturing capabilities the duo have been able to not only make KTM profitable again but it is also selling truckloads of motorcycles all round the world.
This has also given Bajaj the tech to make bigger capacity motorcycles and the flagship Dominar 400 is based on the 390 Duke’s motor. Even the Dominar 250 shares its engine underpinings with the 250 Duke. All of this is okay but what if a guy wants to graduate from the KTM 390s…? There is literally nothing from the Austrian in the Indian market.
It did taste waters with the 790 Duke back in 2019, however, it was soon discontinued from the market. In fact, the last few units were cleared off at hefty discounts. Ever since then there have been speculations of the 890 platform landing in India with a few bikes – the 890 Duke and the 890 Adventure predominantly, giving hope to KTM fans.
However, at a recent event, KTM CEO Stefan Pierer has cleared that no big bikes from the Austrian brand are destined for India in the near future. And the reason he gave is the outrageous taxation on imported motorcycles here. Low volumes of such capacity motorcycles do not give ample business sense to allow local production.
You may argue how are other makers doing business in bigger capacity bikes. I have discussed this in my following Ask BikeAdvice video (check question no 2)
In short, if you were waiting for an upgrade to your 390 Duke/Adventure from the KTM’s stable, this is a confirmation that you should start looking beyond the Austrian brand – at least for the near future!
SPIED: Next-Gen 390 Duke Caught Again – 5 Things to Know
In a related news, KTM has also killed the twin cylinder 490 platform before launch and here are its details.
