KTM's Husqvarna bikes to roll out of Chakan plant from 2017

KTM acquired Husqvarna AG from the BMW Group, renaming it Husqvarna Motorcycles GmbH in January 2013

Austrian sports motorcycle maker KTM, in which Bajaj Auto holds a 48 per cent stake, is expected to start manufacturing Husqvarna's volume bikes -- Vitpilen and Svartpilen -- at the Bajaj-KTM Chakan plant from next year, primarily to cater to the European market.

"Two years in a rapidly-evolving market is a long time," Amit Nandi, senior vice-president (pro biking), Bajaj Auto, said while hinting at a probable roll out of 'made-in-India' Husqvarna bikes sometime during the 2017 calendar.

KTM, which had acquired Husqvarna AG from the BMW Group, renaming it Husqvarna Motorcycles GmbH in January 2013, however, has no immediate plans to introduce the Husqvarna brand in India.

"We still have a long distance to go in terms of establishing KTM itself in the Indian market, before fragmenting our customer base to yet another brand," Nandi said, after inaugurating KTM's ninth brand outlet in Telangana, its 262nd outlet nationally. It plans to add 88 more dealerships to its network by next year.

KTM, which entered the Indian market in 2012 with its entry-level sports bike KTM Duke 200, has sold 23,000 units in the domestic market in the 2014-15 fiscal, a 35 per cent growth over the previous year.

Despite the sports motorcycle segment in India, pegged at 120,000 units annually, witnessing flat growth or marginally declining, KTM is expecting to close the current financial year with sales of 30,000 units, Nandi said.