The change of management from the DSK Group to the Mahavir Group will not be a cause of concern.
Four years after announcing a partnership in October, 2014, the DSK-Benelli venture announced their breakup a few days back. The new management of Benelli India will be the Mahavir Group from Hyderabad.
Benelli have enjoyed a good amount of success with their bike portfolio in India. A large part of this credit goes to the DSK Group headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra that were managing Benelli India. The alliance has resulted in a total of 25 dealerships across India so far.
The change of management is a result of the DSK Group filing bankruptcy owing to its poorly performing real estate business. The Mahavir Group is an experienced payer as a major automotive dealer in Hyderabad. They already have authorised dealerships of Mercedes-Benz, Skoda, Isuzu and Indian Motorcycles in Hyderabad and Vijayawada and were the first to open a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Hyderabad.
There are presently five Benelli motorcycles on sale in the Indian market which include the TNT 25, TNT 300, 302R, TNT 600 GT and the TNT 600i. The TNT 899 and the TNT R were also launched but were discontinued because of their incompliance to the BS4 emission norms. The Mahavir Group is expected to setup a factory in Hyderabad to have proper infrastructure needed for future expansion.
The existing owners and the future buyers however need not worry as the existent sales and service network of Benelli India will remain. The Mahavir Group with its expertise in the automotive market is only likely to expand the reach of the Benelli Group. The launch of the Leoncino Scrambler and the TRK 502 adventure motorcycles, which was already scheduled by the DSK-Benelli venture are also likely to be launched sooner or later.
What remains to be seen however is whether the Mahavir Group will keep the existing dealers or have them replaced by new ones.
Benelli India Management
– DSK Group has filed bankruptcy because of poor performance in the real estate business
– Mahavir Group has taken over the management from the DSK Group
– The new alliance is unlikely to affect the existing sales and service network
Source – ZigWheels.com
