Kinetic Launches Bike

Pune-based Kinetic Engineering Ltd today launched a four-valve 125cc motorcycle, GF-125, in technical collaboration with Hyosung Motors of Korea.

The new motorcycle model -- Kinetic's second after the 100 cc 'Challenger' -- comes with a price tag of Rs 49,998 (ex-showroom Delhi), Kinetic Engineering joint managing director Sulajja Firodia Motwani said at a press conference here.

"We will launch a new bike every quarter over the next 12 months," Motwani said. A 150cc variant based on the GF platform will be launched by April next year. An upgrade of the Challenger -- which was first launched in December 2000 -- will be rolled out by the last quarter of the financial year. Kinetic also intends to enter the economy segment of the mobike market in the next six months, Kinetic Engineering senior vice-president Ajay Kapila said.

 

Motwani said Kinetic has drawn up plans to achieve about 40-50 per cent of its targeted sales turnover of Rs 2,000 crore by 2003-4 from the motorcycles segment. Kinetic also has a large presence in the ungeared scooters and mopeds segment of the two-wheeler market.

"We want to have a 15 per cent share in the domestic motorcycle market in the next two years," she said adding the company hopes to sell over 20,000 GF125 bikes during the remaining part of the fiscal," she said.

The company has made an investment of Rs 100 crore over the last three years in the motorcycle unit. "Incremental investments of around Rs 8-10 crore will be made on designs and moulds for each new model henceforth," Motwani said.

...to foray into auto insurance

The Kinetic Engineering group will foray the domestic auto insurance market this month.

"We are about to tie up with an insurance company this week to sell auto insurance, mainly two-wheeler insurance products. The pilot launch of the first product would be made this month," Kinetic joint managing director Sulajja Firodia Motwani said here.

She said the company would join hands with at least two insurance companies to ensure the interests of its consumers by providing various products but declined to identify the companies. Kinetic, she said, will act as third party resellers.