KTM Duke 200 to launch in India

Austrian motorcycle maker KTM's plan to develop a full range of four-stroke water-cooled naked bikes, from entry-level 125cc up to litre class, is beginning to come together.

KTM CEO, Stefan Pierer, told the Indian media to expect a new 200cc Duke in about six months time, as the strategic partnership between Bajaj and KTM grows tighter by the month.

"During the Delhi Auto Expo next year, we will be launching the first 200cc Duke bike in India. We expect to sell 25,000 to 30,000 units in India in the first year of launch," confirmed Pierer.

Built by Baja in India, the KTM Duke 125 has already sold in strong numbers in Europe and has been well received by the media and the public in the EU.

KTM supremo Pierer revealed that the next crop of Indian-built Dukes, in 200 and 350cc capacities, would also be export models as well as domestic, with the Duke 350  hitting the streets in 2013.

"After one year, we will launch the 350cc Duke in India. We have already sold nearly 7,000 units in Europe. We are targeting to sell about 10,000 units in Europe this year."

He added: "All the bikes that we produce in India will be global models. Now we are looking to export KTM bikes from Bajaj facility to other emerging markets like Thailand, Malaysia, and Brazil."

The KTM Duke 200 will have a power output of around 22hp (16kW) and will feature all the stuff from the Duke 125, such as upside-down forks, disc brakes, 17-inch wheels, digital instrument cluster, trellis frame, electric start and seating/pegs for two.

As automotive companies continue to look towards South East Asia, India and China to build vehicles at lower costs, KTM already has runs on the board, so to speak, having accelerated its plans to build and export motorcycles from India since early in 2011.

When Indian motorcycle company Bajaj bought a 14.5 per cent share of premium bike maker KTM in 2007, it formed a strategic partnership that is now starting to bear (very lucrative) fruit in the form of pint-sized KTM Duke models. Bajaj now owns almost 40 per cent of KTM and has an option to increase its share to 49 per cent and has outlined its intention to take over the company completely in the mid-term future, though the other majority share holder (CROSS Industries AG) will not be keen to let this happen. But that's another story in itself...

With an eager Indian investor, KTM plans to aggressively grow sales around the world. In 2010 it sold 62,000 bikes globally, in 2011 it is looking at selling around 72,000 units and by 2015 it predicts global sales could reach 200,000 if the baby Dukes sell strongly.

Built at Bajaj Auto's Chakan plant in Pune, India, the entry-level 125 to 350cc KTM Dukes have not yet been earmarked for Australia.

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