If iconic superbike brands like Harley Davidson and Triumph are already here in the county, can the oldest US motorcycle brand, ‘Indian’ be far behindIJ The answer is ‘no’.
Making superbiking more exciting and competitive, Polaris India launched its iconic motorcycle brand — ‘Indian’, priced between `26.5 lakh and `33 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) on Wednesday.
“We acquired Indian Motorcycles in April 2011 and developed and readjusted engines but kept its iconic and heritage style in tact. Polaris India has ended the long wait for Indian motorcycle enthusiasts with this launch,” said Country Head & Managing Director of Indian Motorcycle Pankaj Dubey while launching three models.
“In 2012-2013 the market size for superbikes over 1,600 cc in the country stood at around 200 units. This year, we expect the market to grow by 40-50 per cent. We are looking to have 10 per cent market share of that,” he added.
Talking about dealerships he said that the company would open the same in Delhi and Bangalore. “We are opening first dealership in Delhi. later, we also plan to open one in Bangalore,” Dubey informed.
Polaris India launched three models under the Chief range — Classic, Vintage and Chieftain, priced at `26.5 lakh, 29.5 lakh and `33 lakh (all ex-showroom Delhi).
The superbike maker has started taking orders for the three bikes from Wednesday only and will start the delivery from March.
When asked if Polaris, which sells off-road and all- terrain vehicles and Indian motorcycles, would have common dealerships, Dubey said: “Till we set up the required infrastructure for Indian motorcycle brand, the Polaris touch points would serve the bike customers as well.”
Polaris India has around 50 touch points in the country. The company would be importing the three bikes as completely built units into India from its lone manufacturing facility in the US.
“The bikes would come as CBUs. At the moment, we don’t have any plan to assemble them here,” Dubey said, adding that the company would like to “position the Indian motorcycle brand above all superbikes available in the country”.