Z900RS high price reason is country of import…
Recently, for some reason, Kawasaki India thought – “Let us crack a joke..” and what came up was the very beautiful Z900RS at a terribly absurd price tag of Rs 15.30 Lakhs ex-showroom pan India! Link to launch article.
The Z900, on which the retro RS version is based, costs Rs 7.7 Lakhs – half of the Z900RS’ tag! If you are a retro classic fan, you can get the equally beautiful Bonneville and still have enough money to get the Versys 650!
Z900RS High Price Reason
Kawasaki brings in both the Z900 and the Z900RS in India as CBUs ie Completely Built Units which means we are talking about heavenly taxes. Yes, you may be surprised that unlike Ninja 1000 which is sold as an SKD (Semi Knocked Down Kits), Z900 streetfighter is a CBU in India, despite what its aggressive price tag suggests.
So the question is why such a terribly high price tag for Z900RS and a mouth-watering one for the Z900 if both the motorcycles are CBUs? The answer is the country of import!
Z900RS is made in Japan and shipped to various countries like USA, India etc. It attracts more than 100% import taxes. On the other hand the Z900 we get is from Thailand with which we have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This FTA is what provides the naked Z900 almost a CKD-like pricing flexibility.
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You know the reason now but it would be really surprising to see even 10 Z900RS’ on the roads at such a price tag! Kawasaki knows this and is following the booking-only route ie they will not be stocking any units of this motorcycle and instead will import one when (and if) there is a booking!
