Leoncino 500 rides out of Benelli stable

: Motorcycle-maker Benelli on Monday announced the launch of its popular global brand Leoncino 500 in the Indian market with a price tag of Rs 4.79 lakh (ex-showroom).

Benelli India managing director Vikas Jhabakh, addressing a press conference here, said the Italian bike- maker which became part of Qjian Jiang Group, China, is coming out witha bike specifically designed for the Indian market in sub-300 cc category in a few months.

The bike would also be exported to other countries, he said.

We thought Hyderabad is apt as a location for the national launch of our latest bike Leoncino 500. The bike will be available in India in two colours - red and the steel grey.

Leoncino 500 would be imported in the CKD format and assembled in the Hyderabad facility.

The bike would come with five-year unlimited kilometre warranty, Jhabakh told reporters.

He said the company is planing to come out with two or three models including the one specifically for Indian bike riders in the next few months.

Benelli has six models, including Leoncina, in India.

"By 2020-end, Benelli will have 12 or 13 different models of all categories in terms of cc, in the Indian market," he said.

Last year, the company Benelli had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Telangana government and Adishwar Auto Ride International (AARI), a subsidiary of Mahavir Group, for setting up a manufacturing facility here.

The Mahavir group company initially started assembling CKD (completely knock-down) kits of the bike here for Benelli and the partnership also entitles AARI to assemble, manufacture and import exclusive range of the bikes from Italy and South-East Asian regions.

Benelli sold over 6000 bikes in India since its launch in the country three years ago.

It sold about 1,000 units from January till July this year and hopes to end the year with the sales of 2,000 units.

Replying to query, Jhabakh said the company was closely studying the feasibility of bringing out electric variant into the Indian market, but not in the immediate future.