Ducati expects demand for premium bikes in India to pick up in festive season
NEW DELHI: Italian super-bike maker Ducati has said that
demand for premium motorcycles has sobered down in India this year, but the
market is likely to pick up in the coming time on festive cheer and new model
launches.
Ravi Avalur, MD of Ducati in India, said that the growth rate for premium bike
sales - priced above Rs 4 lakh - has tempered down in the last couple of
months.
"Till last year, the market was going strong and industry-wide sales were
up 47%. This year, we are seeing a growth of only around 15%," he said as
the company launched the 'XDiavel' cruiser in two variants, priced at Rs 15.9
lakh and Rs 18.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
The premium bike market is estimated at about 6,500 units annually and
companies selling the super-bikes include Harley-Davidson, Triumph, Kawasaki
and Ducati. Harley-Davidson is already assembling its bikes in the country, and
is the leader in the segment.
Avalur said that the slowdown in the pace of growth is a "temporary
blip" which "should be corrected by the end of the year".
Ducati, which imports bikes from Thailand using India's free-trade agreement
with the country, sells 11 models here which are priced between Rs 7 lakh and
Rs 55 lakh. These include sports bikes and cruisers.
Speaking about the new launch, Avalur said the model is likely to see healthy
demand here as Indians prefer to ride cruisers rather than pure sports models.
"Cruisers are the largest segment in the luxury motorcycle category. We
wanted to enter this segment... (and) the XDiavel achieves that... Our dealers
have been overwhelmed with pre-bookings and we're confident that the XDiavel
will be the cruiser-of -choice for the connoisseurs."
The company - which last year sold around 50,000 units globally -- had
re-entered the Indian market in March last year. Avulur did not disclose the
numbers it has sold so far. The company sells its bikes from 5 dealerships,
including in Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune.
Source : Ducati
expects demand for premium bikes in India to pick up in festive season