KTM showrooms have stopped selling Kawasaki bikes in India, as Bajaj’s tie-up with the Japanese automaker has come to an end.
Kawasaki is in big trouble as its retail and service tie-up with Bajaj Auto has come to an end, thereby making it difficult to buy and service bikes from Team Green in India. We were the first to break this news about Kawasaki bikes to no longer be sold and serviced by the KTM network but things have come to an end even sooner as officially the tie-up runs till the end of this fiscal year, that is 31st March.
With an increase in popularity of KTM motorcycles in India, it made complete sense for this move for Team Orange. Our visit to both the KTM sales and service outlets showed not a single Kawasaki bike in sight. Dealers have stopped stocking Kawasaki bikes to prevent inventory pile-up. A KTM dealer tells us that they never had display bikes for Kawasaki, they put a motorcycle for display and the same was sold to a customer, no test rides were offered either.
With Kawasaki being sold via KTM showrooms, it was of big advantage to the Austrian bike maker as many got attracted to the green machines and entered the showroom, only to be lured to the value for money Duke and RC series (we have seen this happen live). With KTM all set to add a fifth model to its Indian lineup (Duke 250), the free up of retail space is only a boon.
KTM service centres are legally liable to service Kawasaki bikes till the end of this financial year but they aren’t stocking parts so any attempt to get your Kwacker serviced from what was once Bajaj Probiking, will only go in vain. For those thinking of getting a good deal for stock clearance, that too is highly unlikely because KTM dealers don’t have any Kawasaki stock in the first place.
Kawasaki sells a range of motorcycles in India with its CKD models being the Z250, Ninja 300, ER-6n, Ninja 650 and Versys 650, all of them were sold at KTM showrooms. Their CBU models were retailed through their own network which is wafer thin. This break-up in ties doesn’t affect local assembly operations as Bajaj continues to give Kawasaki factory space in Akurdi. Being a Japanese brand, Kawasaki has been conservative with investments which has made them lose market share to a later entrant, Triumph as the British brand has a bigger sales and service network in the sub-continent.
Kawasaki Bike Sales
– Kawasaki’s tie-up to sell and service its bikes through the KTM network was to end on 31st March
– Dealers have stopped stocking and selling Kawasaki bikes, KTM service centre has stopped servicing them
– Kawasaki doesn’t have a good enough network to survive in the Indian market
– Existing Kawasaki customers are in a big fix, especially those in tier-II and III cities where there is no help for them
– Kawasaki has less than 10 dealers pan India, KTM has in excess of 325
