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| Suzuki to launch new 125cc bike this month |
| Mahesh Kulkarni / Bangalore Mar 04, 2009, 17:31 IST |
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Targets 10% market share in the 125-150cc segment.
Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMIPL), a subsidiary of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corporation and a relatively new entrant in the Indian two-wheeler market, is planning to launch a new premium 125cc motorcycle, its fourth in the sub-150cc category, this month.
The bike is being launched as part of the strategy to get a 8-10 per cent market share in the 125-150cc motorcycle category in the next financial year (2009-10), from the current 3 per cent, a sale of around 70,000 units. Around two million units are sold in the category each year.
Suzuki has two sub-150cc models and one in the 150cc category, which it entered recently. The company entered India three years earlier.
Atul Gupta, vice-president, sales and marketing, SMIPL, said the new 125cc bike would be different from the existing ones, Heat and Zeus, which target the commuter segment.
“The premium segment is poised be the next growth driver. We are developing a brand new motorcycle which will be in the premium category and more attractive and stylish compared to our other two bikes in the 125cc segment,” Gupta said.
“We are confident of achieving our target (of 8-10 per cent market share) by next year, as we will have a new product in addition to the just-launched 150cc bike, GS150R. In just about a week’s time, we have received bookings for more than 7,500 bikes across the country,” Gupta added.
Suzuki, which had positioned its 150cc bike between the economy and premium segments in the this category, planned to take on competitors like Hero Honda, Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India, Yamaha, TVS and Bajaj through this bike, he said.
The company is investing Rs 150 crore to expand its manufacturing capacity in India to 400,000 units a year in the next two to three years, from 175,000 units now. The capacity will touch 250,000 units in the next financial year, Gupta said. Of the additional capacity, 50 per cent will be for making scooters and the remainder shared among existing 125cc bikes and the GS150R.
In the automatic scooter category, it aims to raise the share of its Suzuki Access 125 from 20 per cent to 25-30 per cent in the next fiscal. The company will close the current fiscal at a production of 100,000 units. The production will be increased to 120,000 units in the next fiscal, a growth of 20 per cent. Suzuki Access, with a waiting period of three months, has been clocking a monthly sale of 8,000 units. The current market for ungeared scooters in India is pegged at a yearly 500,000 units.
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