CFMoto: All You Need To Know About The Brand

With two all-new motorcycles spotted in India, CFMoto is suddenly in the limelight. We dig a bit deeper to bring you all details about it

Update: We have ridden the CFMoto 650NK. Read the road test review here. 

CFMoto’s quarter-litre naked, the 250NK and the middleweight adventure-tourer the 650MT have been spotted testing in India recently. In fact, this isn’t exactly the first time the brand has set foot on Indian soil. Back in 2016, CFMoto partnered with a Hyderabad-based company, Eider Motors which brought the 650NK naked bike to our shores. 

Here’s where it gets interesting. Eider Motors launched the 650NK at an ex-showroom price of Rs 3.37 lakh! At that time, a 650cc parallel-twin CKD (Completely Knocked Down) motorcycle priced under Rs 3.5 lakh was absolutely unheard of. Not surprisingly, the Chairman of Eider Motors was arrested for allegedly cheating a number of dealers, promising them a number of products and failing to deliver them. Now, with the recent sightings of test mules, it remains to be seen how CFMoto will come back into the country.

For the uninitiated, CFMoto is a Chinese manufacturer specialising in motorcycles, quad bikes and All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs). The company was founded in 1989 and has made almost 100 products and 51 engines so far. In October 2017, CFMoto signed a joint venture with KTM (with the former holding the majority stake) to make motorcycles for the Chinese and global market. The foundation stone for the manufacturing plant was laid last year, with the brands planning to design and develop “tens of motorcycle models” and a targeted production output of 500,000 units. Interestingly, KTM in China is called KTMR2R as the trademark for “KTM” had already been taken in the country. 

As a part of the joint venture, the production of KTM’s 799cc parallel-twin LC8 engine, as well as the production of the entire middleweight portfolio will take place at CFMoto’s China plant in 2020. The bikes will then be sold globally from China. This will help the Austrian bikemaker to price its mid-displacement products at a much more competitive price than it does now.

However, these developments will not affect small-capacity KTMs for the Indian market as production will go on at the Chakan plant near Pune. KTM also officially announced that it will be bringing in the Husqvarna brand to India in 2020. Interesting times ahead indeed!