Enfield Seeks Kinetic’s Help

Thump producers, Royal Enfield is going through a huge demand of its Classic series of bikes not only in India but in the foreign markets like US and UK as well. But the company has completely failed to cater to the huge demand and as a result the waiting period of Classic 500 Efi and Classic 350 is as high as 6 months or more in major cities of India.

The Chennai based motorcycle manufacturer’s has a capacity to produce 4500 bikes per month but these figures fall short of the current market demand by 2000 units for every month. This comes as a deep point of concern for the company as they lose out a good chunk of customers who do not wait that long. In fact, only real thump lovers who have only one bike in mind wait that long. The actual problem, as RE puts it, is that ‘Classics’ use a better and high quality paint along with a tedious painting process for which the current capacity is not able to meet the huge demand.

Hero Honda to Increase Prices of its Motorcycles…

Countries largest two wheeler manufacturer, Hero Honda, has taken the unprecedented step of raising price of its products. Many Hero Honda products will be dearer by 500 to 1000 rupees. As the company puts it, this price hike comes in wake of the rising commodity prices. Since August 2008 Hero Honda has been bearing the brunt keeping the prices unchanged but with the rising global steel prices, tires and other important commodities the company has been forced to hike prices of its products.

Good news is that the omnipresent Splendor has been spared of any price hike along with company’s flagship motorcycle Karizma. 125cc Super Splendor and Glamour and 150cc Hunk and CBZ Extreme will be dearer to customers by about 1000 rupees. Will this step affect the company adversely? Sales figures of the forthcoming months will only reveal the impact!

Vespa Set to Come Back by 2012

The name which became synonymous with scooters during our teens, Vespa, is all set to make a comeback in probably the most luring and profitable two wheeler markets, India. The Italian company Piaggio, makers of Vespa line of scooters, has finally decided to re-foray into the Indian market and this time as a fully owned subsidiary. The company would be investing around 30 million rupees over two years to set up a plant with a production capacity of 1.5 lakh two wheelers. The strategy and plannings of the operation of the company have been discussed on the higher scale for sale of two wheelers in the Indian market.


Piaggio entered India during the 1960s in collaboration with Bajaj Auto for the first time. After license rejection in 1971 due to India’s privatization initiatives, LML had to break their alliance with Bajaj. After more than a decade Piaggio returned back in 1983, this time with a new Joint Venture, LML and a competitor to Bajaj Auto. Vespa brand of scooters enjoyed a cult status in the Indian market with superior engines and greater fuel efficiencies. However, due to disputes arising between partners, LML procured Piaggio’s stake in 1999 resulting in the conclusion of the JV. More than a decade later Piaggio is planning to foray into the Indian market yet again. The difference this time, however, would be that Piaggio would enter the India market as a fully owned subsidiary of the Italian firm.