KTM launched the Duke 390 in India on the 25th of June and the company has received 1500 bookings for the motorcycle till date. That is commendable demand for a bike of this price in less than two months time. KTM hasn’t started delivery in full swing yet and the initial batch of bookings will see delivery by end of September. There are a few people who had booked the bike before the launch who are already enjoying their Duke 390. KTM quotes a waiting period of 90 days on its motorcycles, which helps them to manage inventory better.
KTM launched the Duke 390 at an introductory price of Rs. 1.80 lakhs (ex-showroom). However there are no immediate plans to hike the price of this pocket-rocket just yet. 1500 bookings means an average monthly sales of around 700 units which far exceeds the Honda CBR250R’s numbers, which is around 200 units a month. Of course the Duke 390 being recently introduced sees a higher demand but with absolutely no competition, the Duke 390’s sales should continue on the top in its segment.
The Duke 390 has been designed and developed at Bajaj Auto’s Chakan facility, with technology inputs coming from KTM Austria. Bajaj-KTM export around 30,000 units of the Duke motorcycles to Europe and America every year (Duke 125, Duke 200 and Duke 390). With the depreciating rupee, exports are very lucrative for the company. The Indo-Austrian collaboration will result in more high performance, wallet friendly motorcycles hitting our roads. The next KTM launch is in early-2014 of the RC 390.
