KTM Duke 200 to be Launched – Official

The KTM Duke 200 will be launched in India during the Delhi Auto Expo next year. The Austrian manufacturer, on which Bajaj holds about 40 per cent of share had launched the KTM Duke 125 in Europe manufactured from Bajaj’s Pune plant which is received very well over there.

Cross Industries AG CEO and also the CEO of KTM Sportmotorcycle AG, Mr. Stefan Pierer said, “During the Delhi Auto Expo next year, we will be launching the first 200-cc Duke bike in India”. He also added that this bike will be manufactured in Bajaj’s Pune plant which is of course a known fact.

The company’s target is to sell about 25k units annually. “We expect to sell 25,000 to 30,000 units in India in the first year of launch. After one year, we will launch the 350-cc Duke in India.” This interview has also made us realise that one year down the line the next KTM is due for India with a 350 cc engine.

Regarding the Duke 125 which was manufactured exclusively for the European youth population, he said, “We have already sold nearly 7,000 units in Europe. We are targeting to sell about 10,000 units in Europe this year”.

From the way the interview went on, it was pretty obvious that KTM is very happy with Bajaj’s support in terms of manufacturing and exports. “All the bikes that we produce in India will be global models. Now we are looking to export KTM bikes from Bajaj facility to other emerging markets like Thailand, Malaysia, and Brazil,” Mr. Pierer said.

Overall, KTM aims to sell 82,000 units this year, up from 62,000 units in 2010, he said, adding that by 2015, it was targeting the sale of 2 lakh units. 2 lakh units across the globe is indeed a great figure for KTM and with the new tie up it appears that the company will soon attain the target.

Economic Times has quoted that in 2007, Bajaj picked up a 14.9 per cent stake in KTM for around Rs 300 crore. A year later, it increased its stake in the European bike-maker to 25 per cent and has been increasing it gradually. Both companies also signed an agreement for jointly developing 125 cc bikes, which will be built at Bajaj’s Chakan plant near Pune for exports to the European market under the KTM brand. They had earlier planned to launch their bikes in India in the latter half of this year.

Bajaj presently has about 40% stake in KTM and the new interesting fact is that the tie up provides provisions for Bajaj to increase its stake to as much as 49 per cent but not more than that so that the Indian makes acquires the other.

Mr. Pierer said, “Bajaj currently holds about a 40 per cent stake and we have an arrangement with them under which they can go up to acquiring 49 per cent stake in KTM. They can acquire the stake only through open market and we are helping them to gain more stake in KTM.”

But he concluded saying, “We will not dilute the promoters’ holding of 51 per cent in KTM.”

Regards,
M.Naren.
Author – BikeAdvice.in