The association between Indian two wheeler giant Bajaj Auto and the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM has been quite fruitful for both of them. The first product of the Bajaj KTM association, the Duke 200, was an instant success and received loads of love from motorcycle enthusiasts. Its bigger sibling the Duke 390 and then the following RC series of motorcycles further forged the Bajaj KTM association in India. The association also brought in new successful products for Bajaj as well.
Now after strong success in India, the Bajaj KTM duo is planning to gain similar attention and response in the Indonesian market. The dynamics of the market are very much similar to the Indian market. Bikers there demand strong performance at competitive price points which is the strong suite of both KTM and Bajaj. Similar to India, it is a developing nation which means that low capacity motorcycles dominate the biking scene and low cost performance machines are the favourites.
The Bajaj KTM association will continue the same way for the Indonesian market. KTM will offers its technological expertise while Bajaj will bring its manufacturing and service expertise to the table. The motorcycles will be distributed through exclusive KTM dealerships managed by Bajaj Auto.
The motorcycles sold will displace below 400 cc which means the line-up is similar to what we have in India to target the entry level performance segment. The market is highly competitive and the Bajaj KTM team will have to work hard to shrug off rivals like Yamaha. Yamaha has recently launched the Xabre in Indonesia which is a naked version of YZF-R15.
The Bajaj KTM duo had a significant advantage in India as Bajaj locally manufactures the motorcycles and already had a strong dealer network in place. This allowed them to keep the costs low and distribution easy. However it will lose this advantage in the Indonesian market and will have to work hard to build up a presence in the mind of buyer there. The motorcycles will be manufactured at Bajaj’s Chakan plant and exported via CKD route so they will have to work on keeping the costs competitive too.
