Husqvarna on the Prowl: To Launch Small Enduro Bike in India

Husqvarna is a Swedish motorcycle brand, well known for its MotoCross and Enduro bikes. It has had a troublesome time of ownership changes in the past few years. It was based in Italy under the marquee of MV Augusta, before BMW acquired it in 2007, only to hand it over again. But it looks like there’s a ray of hope at the end of the tunnel now.

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There has been quite a buzz over this development. At a time when KTM is all over the place with its quirky designs and an even quirkier-yet-attractive exhaust note, speculations of KTM having brought Husqvarna into its fold have spread like wildfire on various automobile forums. Well, the fact is that Husqvarna has been acquired by Pierer Industrie AG, the investment mechanism of Stefan Pierer. Stefan himself has made it clear that both KTM and Husky will retain their identities, and even compete with each other if the need arises.

It seems Mr. Pierer has planned out a lot of his moves in advance. In an exclusive teté-a-teté with CNBC-TV18, he spoke about the probability of Huskies like the TE250 rolling out from Chakan within a couple of years. They will be on-road-as-well-as-off-road motorcycles, aimed at serious tourers and riders who want the versatility of both the worlds. The only such product in the market right now is the Hero Impulse, though there is every possibility of the BMW-TVS courtship-period spawning such dual-purpose products.

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In another interview with CycleNews, Pierer mentioned that the three brands might share some portions across the platform. The Pulsar will be projected as a cheaper, en-masse alternative, and the Duke will lie in the medium value range. Husqvarna will be the premium brand lying above the other two, and it will put to use small capacity engines that will be jointly developed by KTM-Bajaj.

The overall strategy seems to be of letting three brands share a lot of parts, and this definitely does look financially attractive. Profit margins could soar skywards for Bajaj and KTM, and the good-old-days of Husqvarna might just be back.

For us bikers, times seem to move towards merrier ways. Now we can look forward to having some real choice of products that will be at ease, both on the highway and the regular pavements, as well as the slush-and-dirt filled tracks in the hills nearby.

We are looking forward to it with an earnest hope, aren’t you?

 

– Bishakh

Source: Cyclenews