Design language of the next-gen Dukes is irresistibly good! They are sharp, they are brutal and they appear purposeful and they are launching tomorrow in India. And the biggest surprise is that from the duo of 200 and 390, they will become a trio of 200, 250 and 390! Yes, KTM, as we told you way before (link to story), has plans to launch the new Duke 250 in India, going by the latest spyshots that have surfaced. But wait a minute… where will they place it? What is changing? Let us try to decode their plans…
KTM Duke Prices & Placement (Expected)
Current Duke 200 is priced at around Rs 1.45 Lakhs whereas the Duke 390 costs Rs 1.96 Lakhs (both ex-showroom prices). This gives them a narrow price band to keep the Duke 250 and it could result in higher cannibalisation between models.
Now the biggest possibility which we foresee is a significant price increment to the Duke 390 of upto Rs 15,000 (on the ex-showroom prices) or even slightly higher. This will take it to around Rs 2.10ish lakhs, still leaving a distance of about Rs 12,000 to 15,000 with the RC390 (2017 RC390 costs 2.25 Lakhs).
2 Nm of higher torque, BS4 emission norms, Ride by wire feature, LED headlamps, TFT screen etc are more than enough to justify the increment over the older model. To know all the 12 differences between older vs new Duke 390, click here.
On the other hand, price increase on the 2017 Duke 200 is expected to be minimum – we assume it should not cross Rs 1.50 lakhs. Apart from the new design and BS4 compliance, the 2017 Duke 200 is not expected to gain any significant feature addition.
New Duke 250 Price
This will give KTM a room of over Rs 60,000 to keep the new Duke 250. So, far, we have seen Duke 250 test mules sporting MRF tyres and older instrumentation and no ABS which denotes that KTM wants to price the quarter liter aggressively. Hence, unless there is a higher variant (with ABS) on offer, Duke 250 will be priced at around Rs 1.65-1.7 Lakhs, closer to Duke 200 (and may be, slightly under RC200).
In fact, I doubt that there will be a premium Duke 250 variant with ABS and other features at all because it will push the price up and this variant will have to be placed higher which will take it very close to the fill-to-the-gills Duke 390.
In fact, it is probable that KTM will gauge the response between Duke 200 and Duke 250 and may discontinue the younger sibling if the preference is more for the quarter liter.
Next Read: Its Official – Rajiv Bajaj Confirms KTM 390 Adventure for India