Ducati plans to ride into India's luxury bike market

Italy’s Ducati is planning to ride the fledgling Indian superbike market with models costing more than a top-end car as it sees consumers returning in hordes to the luxury segment after the lull caused by the slowdown. Ducati, which sells bikes for Rs 14-60 lakh, is looking forward to sell over 150 bikes in India next year. Ducati Asia-Pacific CEO Mirko Bordiga said, "The bike culture runs in the genes here." Presently, the Indian superbike segment sees annual sales of around 1K. The company is looking to open four dealerships in 2010 in addition to the existing two. It also plans to sell over 150 bikes in 2010 against the 35 units that were lapped up since its July launch. Besides Yamaha, Ducati, Honda, Harley Davidson, Suzuki, Triumph and Kawasaki have all had launches to their name in the domestic market in the past two years. India is estimated to sell 7 million two wheelers annually. Yamaha, is planning to launch more models in the 1,000-1 ,600-cc segment during the January Auto Expo in New Delhi. The company made it's debut with the YZF-R 1 and the 1670cc torque monster MT-01 models in November 2007. Suzuki Motorcycle India, will add new models in the over 1000-cc range, with the aim to sell over 150 bikes in 2010. Its Rs 12.5-lakh Hayabusa, among the largest selling superbikes here, was launched last year. Suzuki Motorcycle India marketing and sales vicepresident Atul Gupta said, "The superbike demand in India is consistently growing." TVS Apache and Bajaj Pulsar are the most popular bikes in India.