Bajaj launches 2 new KTM variants

Bajaj launches 2 new KTM variants
Bajaj launches 2 new KTM variants

PUNE: Bajaj Auto, which owns 49 per cent in the Austrian sport bikes brand KTM and has marketing and production rights of the same here, today rolled out the new variants of the KTM RC range comprising the RC 390 and the RC 200 with additional features, and said it will add 125 more exclusive outlets next financial year.

While the all-new RC 390 is priced at Rs 2.25 lakh, up by Rs 14,000 over the existing model, the RC 200 comes at a price tag of Rs 1.71 lakh, up from Rs 1.59 lakh earlier, ex-showroom Delhi.

The company attributed the price increase to the new emission standards kicking in from April this year.

Both the bikes are compliant with BS-IV norms, Amit Nandi, president for Probiking at Bajaj Auto said adding all the new models of Bajaj Auto are also BS-IV compliant.

Since the Pune-based company entered into the partnership with the No 1 European motorbike brand in January 2012, the company has sold over 1,00,000 KTMs, out of which 37,000 units were sold in 2016.

“The KTM sales have clocked at 46 per cent on a CAGR basis, since then,” he added.

Probiking is a special marketing division that Bajaj has created to develop the racing and sport biking segment, which has clipped at 20 per cent in 2016 against the two-wheeler industry growth of 4.3 per cent in the year, Nandi added.

The new models will take head on the Yamaha R3, which sports a 300-cc engine, the Ninja 300 and the Honda CBR 250R.

He also claimed that KTM is the dominant market leader in the entry-level sport biking segment with a little over 30 per cent market share in a segment that has seen a volume of around 1,20,000 units last year and has close to 10 players including Yamaha, Honda, Motorad, Harley Davidson and Suziki, among others.