Fruitful Tie-ups: Bajaj-KTM

Entering an unknown territory is always a tricky affair no matter what we are talking about. If you do your research though, then things could be relatively easier. Or better yet, you develop a contact who is a local, knows things inside and out in that area, helps you go around and get comfortable while you both benefit in certain ways.

It is a somewhat similar situation with motorcycle manufacturers when they intend to enter a totally new market, only the scales are much higher and risks completely different and bigger. Depending on what market segment they plan to target, they strategize their whole operation accordingly. If they intend to enter a niche segment like high end Sportbikes or the cruiser and the touring segment, I would like to believe their goals are fairly easy in that situation since they won’t be behind numbers as much as fashioning their image as the producers of high end niche motorcycles.

Things get different and more competition oriented when the target segment is comparatively much lower and much more mass oriented while still catering to a specific crowd – beginner sportbike segment like the 200 – 400cc and the middle level segment revolving around 600cc.

Joint Venture, or JV as it is often called out to be, is an interesting affair between two entities as they both support each other for their own and common interests. In the motorcycling world and especially in a country like ours, this trend of collaboration between two manufacturers goes back as much as 1983/84 when India’s Hero collaborated with Japan’s Honda Motorcycles to form Hero Honda, one of the most successful Joint Ventures ever in the history of Indian motorcycle industry. Then there was Kawasaki Bajaj as well and a certain Kinetic Honda.

However, that time is well past, market has changed and so have the requirements pushing manufacturers to enter into fresh partnerships to capture new markets and segments to deliver world class products at competitive pricing. Changing economies and the rise of Asian markets like India in the last 10 years have resulted in a major shift of focus of various motorcycles manufacturers on us.

Welcome to the time of Bajaj-KTM. Welcome to the present.

By the time Kawasaki launched their restyled Ninja 250R in India in 2009, Bajaj had entered into a JV two years earlier with the Austrian based motorcycle manufacturer KTM. At the time, Bajaj had bought 14.5% stake in KTM which grew to 47% in 2012 and close to 49% since then. KTM’s primary expertise is in the field of developing off-roading and adventure motorcycles. They have literally dominated the Dakar Rally for years and their 250cc racing motorcycles are also among the top performing machines in MotoGP’s smallest class, Moto3.

Bajaj-KTM partnership has been a massive success, probably more than what motorcycle enthusiasts and the manufacturers themselves had anticipated. They collaborated to jointly develop and manufacture small capacity naked motorcycles called Duke of 125cc, 200cc and 390cc engine capacity. Developed by KTM, these smaller capacity Dukes are manufactured in Bajaj’s Chakan plant in Pune for sale in the domestic market and for export in certain international markets as well. Along with Duke, they now also produce RC series of full-faired Sportbikes based on the same Duke series.



The first motorcycle, for the Indian market, to come out of their JV was the Duke 200 and it became a massive success instantly. People who were aware of the brand KTM and had an inclination for their motorcycles were enthused at the launch of the first made-in-India Duke. Developed on a light steel trellis frame and sporting a free revving 200cc 4 stroke liquid cooled engine fed by a fuel injection system, Duke 200 is an extremely light weight, powerful and agile motorcycle the likes of which Indian market had never seen before. Today, the KTM range of motorcycles that are manufactured and sold in India are Duke 200, Duke 390, RC 200 and RC 390. The 125cc Duke and RC are also manufactured in India, however, they are only for international markets like Europe.

Both KTM and Bajaj have greatly benefitted with this partnership. For KTM, they have been able to overtake BMW as Europe’s top motorcycle manufacturer which is massively due to the success of smaller Dukes and RC series of motorcycles in Indian, Asian and other international markets. Last year, around the time of the launch of RC motorcycles, KTM had 28% share in their segment in India. On their own, it would have been nearly impossible to get themselves noticed in our country where their popularity, otherwise, is negligible compared to more prominent players like the big Japanese four, Harley Davidson and Ducati.

On the other hand, Bajaj is learning a great deal from KTM who has much more exposure and experience in various motorcycle sports including MotoGP (Moto3). Bajaj’s new series of Pulsar motorcycles starting from NS, AS and RS are based on the KTM engines in Duke/RC 200 and they have gained fair amount of success as well. Also, the future plans of their JV include the development of parallel twin engines as well of up to 800cc.



As we can see, such Joint Ventures are fruitful for both parties involved when it is done right. With the help of Bajaj and their massive manufacturing capability in the home turf, KTM has been able to penetrate in the emerging market like ours and other Asian countries as well as European and American countries too. It also helps them in effectively using Bajaj’s large service network for all the after sales services. Bajaj is also utilizing KTM’s technical prowess and racing experience for the future development of their own motorcycles.

Following their success, TVS and BMW have also entered into a similar partnership where they both will develop and manufacturer smaller capacity sportbikes for Indian and international markets. TVS showed a 250cc prototype motorcycle called Draken (which they are jointly developing with BMW) in the 2014 Auto Expo held in the outskirts of Delhi. We shall see the finished product soon and its launch in the coming months.

The point is, meaningful partnerships like these not only help the two companies, it also greatly benefits the world motorcycle market in general as the time goes by and success is achieved. It is cost effective and not to mention that motorcycle lovers around the country and the world get great motorcycles to choose from.