Big Bikes in India and Thailand
The new trend of selling big bikes in small bike countries, we see this new trend, not only in Thailand were recently Kawasaki, Yamaha and Harley-Davidson joined the market for selling big bikes. Ducati already has a sales office for a few years in Thailand.Recently the trend of selling big bikes also invaded India, India is the undisputed world's second largest motorcycles market. India has about 7.7 million motorcyclists last year; most of these motorcyclists drive little commuter bikes, with engines below 150cc engine displacement.
Only 10% of the 7.7 million motorcyclists in India drive a motorcycle with a larger then 150cc engine displacement.
However, Mr. Ishikawa CEO Yamaha Motor India, beliefs that this low large engine displacement motorcycle sales will change in the near future. And Yamaha Motor India has announced that if will start selling high-capacity, bike engine displacement bikes on the Indian market.
Yamaha Motor India already confirmed that its top models the Yamaha YZF-R1 (1000cc) and Yamaha YZF-R6 (600cc) are soon to be found in showrooms around India.
In Thailand, where Yamaha was also one of the first of the Japanese manufactures to sell big bikes, the second Japanese manufacturer who introduced large engine displacement motorcycles was Kawasaki. And in India, Kawasaki in a partnership with Bajaj Auto holds the key to the most potential market. Bajaj is the undisputed leader in selling cruiser motorcycles; cruiser bikes with larger engine displacement will feel more comfortable will driving.
One of the bikes that Kawasaki introduced in the Thai motorcycle market is the new 2008 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom, which has a V-twin 900cc engine displacement. Will we soon see the Bajaj Vulcan 900 Custom cruiser on the roads in India?
