KTM owned Husqvarna is in the process of developing new on-road bikes and it is likely that India is going to be a production hub for the company.
European company Husqvarna is known for its dirt bikes and the company is soon going to come up with its own range of on-road bikes. Husqvarna is owned by KTM and the company is in talks with its partner Bajaj Auto to manufacture their bikes for global markets at the Indian automaker’s plant in Chakan which is near Pune. In the initial phases, KTM is planning to source engines and components from India and assemble bikes at its Austria facility.
The bikes produced over there will be rolled out in the European and US markets starting from 2017. Soon after, the bikes will be launched in other markets like India and subsequently production will begin in India too. KTM officials said that earlier they were focussing only on off-road models but now they have started to prioritise on-road models that will be based on engine platforms shared with Bajaj Auto.
Bajaj Auto currently holds a 48% stake in KTM. The new range of bikes coming from Husqvarna will be powered by 125cc and 390cc engines which are identical to the ones that KTM has developed in a joint association with Bajaj Auto. KTM CEO Stefen Peirer explained that this is a step-by-step process of how they will source engines and components and move on to full-scaled production while also rolling out their products in different markets.
Even now, India is a very important base for KTM to export 125cc, 200cc and 390cc bikes thanks to the low-cost production that has been made possible after tying up with Bajaj Auto. Most of the volumes come from bikes below 500cc and Bajaj enables KTM to get access to a very low-cost production hub.
Source – ETAuto.com
