Kinetic to manufacture, market seven Italjet models

Kinetic Motor Company has acquired the exclusive manufacturing and distributing rights for seven models of scooters, in the 75-250 cc range, from Italian two-wheeler maker Italjet for an undisclosed amount.

Italjet will completely stop manufacturing the seven models, and Kinetic will be the sole manufacturer and distributor of these, both in the domestic and international markets.

Italjet's design team will also design new models for Kinetic, and Kinetic will acquire five-year exclusive manufacturing and distributing rights for these.

"We don't wish to reveal the financials involved but it is a fraction of what we would spend on developing the technology indigenously," Arun Firodia, chairman of Kinetic Motor, said today at a media conference.

With the addition of the new scooters, Kinetic is hoping to sell 2 00,000 scooters in the next financial year and has set a target of 120,000 scooter sales for the current financial year.

"With the Italjet alliance, we are hoping to regain our position as India's largest gearless scooter manufacturer. We are targeting 50,000 units a year for the export market by the end of the second year," Sulajja Firodia, joint managing director of Kinetic Motor, said.

Faced with a shrinking market for scooters in Europe, Italjet was exploring opportunities in other big markets such as India. It was looking at China as a cheaper manufacturing base before it initiated talks with Kinetic.

As a part of the product portfolio acquisition, Kinetic will also get a ready distributorship network in Europe and the US, courtesy Italjet which has already established a presence in those markets. But Kinetic is free to explore the export potential in markets where Itlajet does not have a presence yet.

The issue of branding for the international market, that is, whether the vehicles will carry a Kinetic-Italjet tag or a Italjet tag alone, have not been decided yet.

The scooters will be fitted with Kinetic engines as Italjet does not have its own engine technology and has been sourcing it from different companies such as Piaggio.

The Kinetic Nova engine has already been homologated in Europe and the US. The company is currently working on a 250 cc engine for some of the Italjet models. It is also developing a new platform for a four -stroke scooterette.

The seven new scooters will be launched in India over a period of two years with two scooters slated for launch in 2004 itself. The first scooter, Jetset, in the 100 cc-150 cc range, will ride into the market in July 2004 and it will be followed by either the Jupiter, a maxiscooter in the 100 cc-250 cc range, or by the Millenium (100 cc-150 cc range). Some of the models like retro scooters will be produced initially only for the export markets.