KTM 200 launching at 2012 Auto Expo

News of the KTM-Bajaj alliance churning out an India-only 200cc model has been doing the rounds of the internet ever since the first KTM 125 was shown last year at the EICMA fair – and now the company’s top boss Stefan Pierer has gone on record about the Austrian bike maker’s strategy for the burgeoning Indian motorcycle market. Pierer recently confirmed that the Mattighofen-based firm will introduce a 200cc variant of the KTM 125 in the Indian market during the 11th Auto Expo, which will be held in Delhi from January 7, 2012 to January 11, 2012.

He also made an announcement that a bigger 350cc variant, again an India-specific model, is also in the pipeline and it is expected to hit the market by 2013. Designed and manufactured by Bajaj Auto in Chakan near Pune, the KTM 125 model is built around a versatile platform that allows incorporating bigger capacity engines in the framework without significantly hiking the manufacturing costs yet consorting with the respective markets. While the 125cc model makes sense only for the European market due to its licensing structure demanding learners to start on small capacity machines, there is not much potential for the KTM 125 in markets like India and the USA.

Currently, KTM has sold about 7,000 units of the made-in-India KTM 125 motorcycles in the European market and is targeting to sell about 10,000 units before this year end. The plan is to produce a variety of low-cost KTM models based around the 125 framework at Bajaj Auto’s facility in Pune and export them to relevant emerging two-wheeler markets like India, South East Asia and South America.

Manufactured in and for India, the bigger KTM 350cc model will make its debut only in 2013. KTM already enjoys a rich product portfolio consisting of small capacity motors ranging from 60cc to all the way upto 1,195cc. It’s anyone’s guess on how many new models the Austrian bike-maker can churn out to expand its road-bike line-up with assistance from Bajaj Auto’s low cost manufacturing expertise. The statement from Stefan Pierer comes at the time when the Indian market is bustling with activity as bike-makers from all corners of the world are vying for an entry point into the Indian space, case in point being European bike-maker Triumph also considering of launching a lower capacity street-bike for new emerging markets.