Hyosung bikes' second innings in India via Garware

South Korean motorcycle brand Hyosung will make a comeback in India in partnership with Pune-based Garware Motors and plans to launch high-end bikes priced upward of Rs 5.5 lakh by April this year.

Garware Motors has entered into a technical tie-up with S&T Motors, which manufactures the Hyosung brand. It is investing Rs 20 crore to set up an assembly plant at Wai, in Satara district of Maharashtra.

"Hyosung will be providing us the technical expertise and we will be responsible for assembly, sales, after-sales and service of the bikes," Garware Motors Managing Director Diya Garware Ibanez told PTI.

As part of the company's plans, two bikes from Hyosung -- 650-cc sports bike GT650R and 700-cc cruiser motorcycle ST7 -- will first be launched.

"These will be imported as completely knocked down units from Korea and will be assembled at the Wai plant, which will have a capacity to produce 8-10 bikes per day," she said, adding that the company is investing Rs 20 crore on the plant.

In 2003, Hyosung had entered into a partnership with Kinetic Motors to sell bikes such as the Comet 250cc, Aquila and GF 125. The partnership, however, did not last long and Kinetic exited the two-wheeler business when it sold off its assets to Mahindra in 2008.

Ibanez said for the new beginning, Garware Motors will start taking orders for bikes by the end of March and expects to start deliveries by mid-April.

"In the first year, we are targeting to sell about 2,000 units. Since we are entering a segment where there are no players at the moment, we are also still evaluating the market," she said, adding that the company has already received 300 inquiries.

Commenting on the new strategy to promote the Hyosung brand, Ibanez said the priority would be to build brand equity through word of mouth, ground level activation and a focus on aftersales service, besides the usual front-end promotion activities.

She said Garware Motors will adopt a step-by-step approach to establishing a presence in the market, but will keep its focus on niche segment bikes and more variants of the two models could be launched, depending on the market response.

Garware Motors is a part of the Garware Bestretch, which is one of the world's leading manufacturer of latex (natural rubber) and latex-free (synthetic polyisoprene) elastic rubber products.