Indian Autos blog

Eying a big potential for luxury bikes in India, where tastes are changing from mass-market machines to high-end bikes, Honda and Bajaj are looking at launching new sportsbikes in the country in the next couple of months.

There had been a sudden surge in the number of International Sportsbikes brands entering the Indian market, over the past two years. Initially the trend was set by Kinetic with the launch of the 250cc, v-twin-powered Hyosung Comet in India back in 2005. Then it was Yamaha, which launched the Yamaha R1 in India and the MT-01 cruiser in 2007. Soon later followed by the Italian motorcycle giant Ducati, who launched an array of superbikes costing up to almost 50 lakhs, and finally Suzuki joined the troop in late-2008, with its Hayabusa superbike and the Intruder cruiser.

Yamaha launched two mega hit bikes in India in 2008, the Yamaha FZ16 and the Yamaha R15 (some call it the mini-R1, no?) are held accountable for this feat- Yamaha India has registered an exceptional 18% boost in its sales in 2008.

The FZ16 is doubtlessly the talk of the town, taking the crowd away from the R15, which was the preceding head turner. 22,000 paid bookings were enrolled in Yamaha showrooms across the country by the end of November 2008, just weeks after the FZ16 launch.