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Bajaj Auto, India’s third largest two-wheeler maker, is ready to roll out at least six models under the European brand Husqvarna with launches scheduled later this year.
Husqvarna is a 100-year-old Swedish brand that has attained iconic status in Europe. The maker of street bikes and dirt bikes is owned by the chief promoter of Austrian brand KTM which in turn is nearly half-owned by Bajaj Auto.
“We have half a dozen models coming under Husqvarna. The brand, in our view, will become even bigger than what KTM has become for us,” Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto said while addressing the media on the sidelines of a brand promotion campaign launched in the national capital.
Chakan, the Bajaj factory based near Pune that produces Pulsars, will accommodate Husqvarna models also. The plant also exclusively makes KTM range of bikes for Indian and overseas markets.
Likewise, for Husqvarna, its parent has decided to shift production of two models Vitpilen 401 and Svartpilen 401 to Chakan with production slated to begin in late 2018 or early 2019.
Both the Husqvarna bikes are powered by the same 373cc, 44bhp, single cylinder engine that powers the KTM Duke 390 and the KTM RC 390. Both these KTM bikes are among the six produced by Bajaj Auto from India.
“KTM was struggling when it joined Bajaj in 2007. Today, the company has overtaken Harley Davidson in premium motorcycle segment worldwide. But I believe Husqvarna will be even bigger than KTM,” added Bajaj.
KTM clocked sales of over 270,000 units last year.
“We (Bajaj and KTM) have set an audacious target for ourselves that between Husqvarna and KTM we will strive to achieve a sale of 500,000 units (per year) in a not too distant future. This is an unbelievably historic figure to aim given that nobody has sold so many motorcycles at those price points,” Rajiv Bajaj had said to shareholders last year.
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