Is India Ready For Super Bikes?

First off, what are the features that qualify a bike into the league of super bikes?
Its great looks peppered up with advanced technology and of course the mind-blowing speed that will vroom with a heavily loaded price. This is what a super bike means to any biker!

With all the high-end qualities, super bikes have slowly made an entry into the Indian two-wheeler market. In the recent times, we have seen super bikes from Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki bikes foraying and there are also rumours about Ducati making a second innings in India.



Although the makers of these super bikers are braced up to reach the rich segment of the country, in the present situation the local bike-making companies are seeing a sharp fall in the sale of two-wheelers in addition which is also attributed to the economic slowdown. In this scenario it will be interesting to see how the big guys make an impact on the market.

Past Performance of the Super Bikes in India
The first two-wheeler company to enter India was BMW in the 80's in association with the Hero group. They had a nasty blow because they did not survey the Indian market thoroughly despite the fact that they were backed by the Indian company. Yamaha and Ducati the big players of the field failed quite drastically with their super bikes launches in India previously. Statistics show that Yamaha managed to sell only 73 bikes in the time span of 7 months that amounts to a mere 1% of its entire revenue earned in the country. Even the Ducati Motors failed to shine in the market with its super bikes priced between 15-50 lakh rupees. The hefty price tags make them mere show pieces with seldom any takers.



Reason for the failure of Super bikes
As indicated by the chief of Ducati motor the super bikes are exuberantly priced because of the various advanced equipment that goes into the making of the bike and this factor makes it unaffordable in the Indian market. The other reason could be the customers are quite satiated with the Indian Royal Enfield; they have not outgrown from this feeling and accept a high-end bike as yet. It will certainly take some time for the super bikes to see a considerable growth in volumes.

Present situation
Indian bike-making companies are tying up with international brands to launch high-end bikes in the country. But the companies cannot afford to get carried away with their strategy; they need to consider the fact that the Indian consumer is price conscious and will shell their money only on the deserving product. They also have to worry about the grey market, which provides an easy access to the super bikes.

But on a positive front there are experts who feel that it will easily take 5 to 7 years for the super bikes to firm their ground here. The super bike basically caters to people with luxurious life style and there is reasonable section of consumers who possess high disposable income. In India bikes still dominate the automobile industry and considering this fact there could be a demand for the super bikes in the days to come. Besides all this the basic challenge still sustains and the two-wheeler companies need to shift gears and modify their strategies to suit the Indian consumer market, which is surely an uphill task and only time will decide the fate of these bikes.