Reference Auto

High-end motorcycles are set to witness a phenomenal growth in India but can Garware Motors and Korea’s S&T Motors high-end Hyosung bikes — GT650R (sports bike) and ST7 (cruiser bike) — find many takers in India?

The GT650R is a 650 cc sports bike and comes for a price tag of Rs 4.75 lakh (for single tone colour) and Rs 4.90 lakh (double tone colour) while the 700 cc ST7 (cruiser bike) will come for Rs 5.69 lakh.

Deliveries are likely to begin by mid-June. While the GT650R will be available in six colour options, the ST7 will come in three colours.

Garware Motors has said that it will open bookings from today itself. Initially, the two motorcycles will be available in five cities – Pune, Mumbai, NCR, Bangalore and Goa.

The Korean company is weighing options to introduce 250 cc bikes later in a bid to rev up volumes but is testing waters in India with the GT650R and ST7.

In 2010, S&T sold 22,000 bikes worldwide. The important markets for S&T are the US, South America, Europe along with Australia.

Korea’s high-end bike maker also sells 50 cc scooters. But it will not be a good idea to get its scooters to India as sales volumes are low and there are established players like Honda, among others. So, the scooters of S&T will hardly find any takers if brought into India.

Meanwhile, dealers in India will be the sole retailers for the Garware-Hyosung motorcycles. They will stock genuine parts and accessories and operate authorised service centres across various cities in the country.

Garware Motors has lined up plans to roll out five more dealerships in Hyderabad, Cochin, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh in about a couple of months.

There will be an introductory offer where customers will get a welcome kit comprising a helmet, performance T Shirt, cool glares, leather keychain along with a Garware-Hyosung cap. But move this is unlikely to draw many buyers.

Garware isn’t a big name in the Indian motorcycle industry and even Korea’s S&T Motors Hyosung brand is generally little known in the country.

Despite not being popular, the two have decided to tie up and enter the premium bikes space, which has a huge potential for growth despite the sales volume being extremely low.

For the duo to find a place among superbikes like Harley Davidson and BMW, among others, they will have to hard sell on the price front as the GT650R and ST7, which fall in the less than Rs 5 lakh bracket, are substantially cheaper than the American and German motorcycles.

So, there could be a market in this price bracket, which Garware and S&T should try and exploit.

The superbikes market in India surged 50 per cent last year and could zoom to over 2,000 units in the wake of entrants like Ducati, Harley Davidson and BMW driving in their dream machines.

But the high volume of 250 cc motorcycles and of lower categories, say the 125 cc one, could provide an opportunity if Garware and S&T launch an aggressive ad blitz to create an awareness and pricing products economically could help substantially in revving up sales and earnings for Garware and S&T Motors.

The promotional campaign could also help scale up sales of the GT650R and ST7 as Hyosung could become a known brand in the days to come.