Suzuki has decided to discontinue the Inazuma in India due to poor demand and unfeasibility of retailing it at the currently reduced price.
There were signs of this to come as Suzuki had removed the Inauzma from its website, citing technical issues. Now the company has confirmed that the Inazuma is being discontinued and won’t be sold in the Indian market post March 2015. The reason for discontinuation is the lack of viability of selling the quarter-litre motorcycle at the reduced price. Suzuki launched the Inazuma with much enthusiasm and over-optimism at a price point of Rs. 3.1 lakhs but reduced the price by one whole lakh after sometime, making the ex-showroom Delhi price an affordable Rs. 2.1 lakhs.
Even with the reduced price, Suzuki failed to sell as many bikes as one would expect. With the Inazuma’s pricing not making business sense for Suzuki, it is but natural to pull the plug. The model being brought via the CKD route isn’t cheap to produce and Suzuki could have gone the local manufacturing route for the Inazuma as its compatriot showed the commitment with the Honda CBR250R. Maybe Suzuki launched the Inazuma with the mindset of creating some brand awareness about its products before the launch of the mass market Gixxer.
The Suzuki Inazuma is quite an interesting bike but it lacks the visual spunk you expect of a quarter-litre street-fighter. With an extremely refined 250cc engine (producing 26 PS, 24 Nm) and a fantastic ride quality, the Inazuma was high on comfort but lacked performance as it weighs quite a bit at 183 kgs. With no ABS on offer and styling which is quite yesteryears, this Suzuki bike simply couldn’t strike the right chord with Indian buyers.
Those who have purchased this Japanese machine, will continue to get service and spare parts support, states the company. The Inazuma is still available for a couple of months (till existing stocks last) and is the cheapest twin-cylinder bike in the country.
Source – Zigwheels
