Bajaj-KTM have aggressive plans for India. The companies plan to launch more vehicles in the country and are following a bottom up approach to launch motorcycles. The first machine to roll out from KTM stable is the Duke 200. This will be soon followed by the Duke 350 and Duke 690. While the Duke 350 will be locally manufactured, the Duke 690 will be brought through the CKD route. Other KTM bikes like the RC8 and SuperDuke too will make its way to India later on but will be CBUs. There is no news on when the dirt bikes will arrive but once KTM brand is established in India, we can expect many of them to be launched, including the 99 kg Freeride 350.
The most interesting bit of news is about the KTM Duke 350’s pricing. The bike will be quite similar to the Duke 200 in appearance and will borrow the Freeride 350’s engine, which should produce around 30 BHP of power and ample torque. As most parts will be shared with the Duke 200 and the engine will be exported to global markets, Bajaj Auto will be able to utlize the economies of scale to price the Duke 350 very aggresively. Expect a price tag of around Rs. 2 lakhs for the Duke 350, which would go on sale by the end of 2012. The arrival of the Duke 350 has also been confirmed by Stefan Pierer, CEO of KTM. So start saving right away!
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