Comments
Benelli, the Italian super-bike brand that was re-launched in India recently, is exploring the possibility of having an end-to-end manufacturing facility in India . The unit will be set up by its India partner Adishwar Auto Ride India.
Benelli currently rolls out assembled motorcycles from its plant located near Hyderabad. Completely knocked down kits are brought in from China and Italy and assembled at the facility owned by Adishwar Auto Ride India, a part of Mahavir Group.
The plant has an annual capacity of 10,000 units and has provisions for ramping up the capacity further.
According to Vikas Jhabakh, Managing Director, Benelli India, it has brought in two consultants to decide on the business strategy and possibility of exports when end-to-end manufacturing starts. Discussions have also been initiated with various State governments for a 50-acre land parcel and other incentives . The States approached by Benelli include Maharastra, Uttar Pradesh (Noida), Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
“It may take another two to three years for us to start end-to-end manufacturing. Once plans for the facility are in place, it may require some additional investments by Benelli too. The new arrangement could include getting into a joint venture,” he told BusinessLine.
Market sources said the super-bike segment in India is pegged at 15,000-20,000 units (excluding sales by Royal Enfield and KTM) a year and is growing at an annual rate of 15-20 per cent. Benelli had earlier enjoyed a market share of 22-23 per cent. The other major players include BMW, Kawasaki, Harley Davidson, Ducati and Triumph.
Ramping up portfolio
Jhabak said plans are afoot to expand its existing portfolio of super bikes. It intends to add 8-9 new models to the portfolio over the next 18 months. Most launches will be between 250 cc and 700 cc categories and the average selling price will be ₹250,000- ₹300,000.
It will also look at launches in the‘commuter cruiser’ category, thereby competing with the likes of Royal Enfield.
“In 2019, which is the first full year post our re-launch in India, we intend to sell 2,000 units. But from 2020 onwards, we are targeting a sale of 3,500 units,” he said. New dealerships are being added . By December this year, it intends to have 40 dealerships across 35 cities.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.