India being one of the largest two-wheeler markets in the world has led many of the companies taking a go at it. With Maruti Suzuki now contributing more than half of the global car sales for Suzuki Motor Corporation, the Japanese auto major is eyeing a similar feat with its local two-wheeler unit, which is already accounting for about 40% of its global two-wheeler sales.
Suzuki Launch Six Premium Scooters & Bikes in India
On the sidelines of EICMA 2019 in Milan, Satoshi Uchida, managing director of Suzuki Motorcycle India, said, “For motorcycles, India market is very, very important. In the near future, it will become like Maruti for Suzuki. So, Suzuki is focussing on India; how to build the Indian market.”
He further added, “A quarter of Suzuki’s global sale of two million two-wheelers last year came from only one model that is the Access scooter that it sells in India. In all, the company sold close to 670,000 two-wheelers in India last fiscal.”
New Suzuki scooters in India
If the reports are to be believed then the Japanese automaker will launch at least half a dozen higher engine capacity scooters and motorcycles in the next three years. To stay clear of any ban on combustion engine two-wheelers with engine capacity less than 150cc, as proposed by the Centre earlier, Suzuki will develop scooters with an engine capacity of 151cc-155cc even though there’s no imminent threat of the aforementioned ban.
Meanwhile, Suzuki will also utilize its 250cc engine platform to make several other styles of motorcycles and compete in the Rs 1.5-3 lakh high-margin, premium motorcycle market which is currently dominated by Royal Enfield. However, the company is not going to compete directly against the maker of Bullet bikes as it does not plan to launch retro-styled, classic motorcycles.
About Suzuki’s premium motorcycle plan, Uchida said, “Classic trend is over. We have to look for another trend coming.”
Upcoming Suzuki bikes in India
To increase contribution from the local market, Suzuki will also export motorcycles from India to other countries, including its home market of Japan, where it is already exporting India-made Gixxer 150 motorcycles.
He added, “We have a very big advantage on cost. If something is accepted in India, that means price-wise we can utilize it for the whole of the world. Even Japan is eager to get more India-made models.”
He also informed, “The company has the capacity to manufacture one million two-wheelers annually at its Gurgaon plant in the NCR. Given the slowdown in the Indian market, we have put on hold our plan to set up a second manufacturing plant here. The company is, however, scouting for a land parcel for the second plant. Construction will begin once the market sentiment improves.”
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