Kawasaki eyes 25% share of superbike market in India by 2015

Japan's Kawasaki Motors aims to corner a quarter of India's superbikes market by 2015, a top company executive said at the launch of its Z800 model in the capital.

"We are looking at sales of 1,500-1,800 bikes in India in 2014. Of these, around 400 are expected to be in the superbike range that is fully imported," Shigeto Nishikawa, deputy managing director of Kawasaki's Indian subsidiary, told reporters on Monday. "We have a strong portfolio of superbikes and aim to capture 25 per cent of the Indian market by 2015."

The company plans to sell 1,200-1,400 units of its Ninja 300 and Ninja 650 models, which it assembles in the country. Kawasaki launched the Z800 at an ex-showroom price of Rs 8.05 lakh, adding to its India line-up of six motorcycles that have engine sizes ranging from 300cc to 1,400cc. These include the superbike models ZX14R, ZX10R, Z1000 and Ninja 1000.

Last year, the company sold 25 units of its imported bikes and about 1,000 units of two locally-assembled models. In India, Harley Davidson is the segment leader with annual sales of about 3,000 units.

Kawasaki is also looking at expanding its sales network. "We are currently studying the options for establishing a wider dealer network across the country. By the end of 2015, we plan to have around five dealers," Nishikawa said.

Kawasaki has two dealerships in the country — one in Pune and another in Delhi, which was inaugurated on Monday.

The company has not firmed up plans of setting up an assembling plant for completely knocked down vehicles. Kawasaki's executives said the company is looking at higher volumes to justify the local production of super bikes. The company wants to achieve annual sales volume of about 160-200 units for each of its models before commencing CKD operations in Pune.