Off-road bike segment will be the next target

KTM has been working on off-road (scrambler) bikes for the Indian market. The Austrian company has plans to enter into this segment, as the Hero Impulse was a good learning as a case study and now manufacturers are working towards introducing its EXC range in India and even looking at exporting it from India.

The 500 EXC, one of the best dirt bikes from the Austrian brand might be considering as one of the models for this range. The 500 EXC is a 510cc liquid-cooled bike that was previously even called the 530 EXC. This is a single-cylinder four-stroke, while the 200 EXC could have a good option, but that is a two-stroke engine. The 500 EXC weighs about 111kgs, which makes it easy to ride in difficult conditions and lighter body weight ensures the engine was easily pull it out easily if gets stuck in slush. Then there is also the 250 EXC, 350 EXC and 450 EXC models, which are also single-cylinder and four-stroke models.

  Off road bikes could be a good concept for India, considering our road conditions aren't that great and this is one segment that hasn't been exploited or rather experimented with in India.

At the moment, KTM has four models the RC 200, Duke 200, Duke 390 and RC 390. India is already a major exporting hub for the brand and now it is looking at expanding its business network with more new products to its portfolio. Bajaj has been utilising KTM inputs in its new range of performance bikes, like the Pulsar 200 NS, and the upcoming 400cc Bajaj Pulsars too with use KTM developed technologies.

One of the bike makers with its R&D centre in Chennai is also considering introducing a scrambler close to 500cc, as it is using the KTM 530 EXC engine (the model which is now 500 EXC) for engine benchmarking. On speaking to a KTM dealer we learnt that the brand is working towards scrambler or off-roaders. A while ago, we even reported that Yamaha and Honda are working towards developing off-road bikes, and now we even have reports of the European bunch working towards making India its new hub for off-road bikes.