As the scorching heat of the summer is giving way to the placid Monsoon, people in metros all over the country could look forward to ride Ducati, the super-premium range of bicycles designed and manufactured by CyclEurope Group, one of the leading bicycle conglomerates in the world. Track and Trail, the retail network owned by Chennai-based TI Cycles of India, has launched seven models of the imported Ducati, which are available over the counter.
The models are priced in the Rs50,000 to Rs1.52 lakh range and is targeted at the high end customers, according to KC Ramamoorthy, vice president, International Business, TI Cycles. “Please do not confuse the brand name with Ducati, the Italian bike manufacturer. CyclEurope are licensed to manufacture and market these bicycles under the Ducati brand name and we are the Indian retailers,” said Ramamoorthy.
Made of aluminium alloy and carbon, each of the models weigh just 8.7 kg, said Ramamoorthy. “These are some of the lightest bicycles ever made in the world. These bicycles will infuse fresh dynamism to the Indian consumers,” said Arun Alagappan, President, TI Cycles.
Ramamoorthy said he was confident of selling 25,000 to 30,000 Ducati bicycles per year. “There are certain constraints which prevent our population from taking to bicycles in a major way. Our roads, especially those in metros and major cities are unfriendly and unsafe to bicycles. There is no right-of-the –way for our cyclists,” he pointed out. Most developed countries in Asia, Europe and America has bicycle friendly infrastructure. “Bicycles get preference over cars in roads of these countries. In Netherlands, each person has 3.1 bicycles,” he said.
TI Cycles, manufacture BSA, Hercules and Montra brand bicycles . “We manufacture four million bicycles per year and have almost 40 per cent of the market share in the country. If bicycle friendly laws are legislated, India’s oil import bill could be brought down considerably and the health of the population will see a marked improvement,” said Ramamoorthi.