Ducati to rev up India presence, over 10 models by year end

Italian super bike maker Ducati plans to sell over ten motorcycle models in India, priced between Rs 6.5 lakh and Rs 40 lakh, by the end of this year as it looks to ramp up operations after re-entering the country in March.

The company is on a network expansion drive and is looking to have 13 showrooms by the end of 2016. It plans to have five outlets by the end of this year.

"We have been gearing up since last year about our India plans. The market is growing steady and this is the right time to take a step forward," Ducati Asia General Manager – Sales and Marketing Pierfrancesco Scalzo told PTI.

The response to Ducati bikes after it started selling in Mumbai and NCR has been above expectations, he added.

Elaborating on the company's India plans, Ducati India Managing Director Ravi Avalur said: "By the end of this we are likely to have 11 models from Ducati stable available in India and we will also add three more showrooms in Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad."

In terms of showrooms, he said, Ducati was looking to have 13 by the end of 2016 by opening outlets in cities like Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kolkata and Kochi, among others.

Ducati today introduced two new variants of its Scrambler model -- Scrambler Classic and Full Throttle -- with price starting at Rs 7.5 lakh (ex-shoowroom Delhi) to add to the line up of Monster family -- 821, Monster S2R and 795, along with others, including Diavel range Hypermotard and Hyperstrada, and the 899, 1299, 1299 S and Panigale R.

Avalur said Ducati's bikes in India will be available at a price range of Rs 6.5 lakh for the Scrambler Icon model to Rs 40 lakh for the flagship bike Panigale R.

When asked if the company planned to assemble its bikes in India, he replied in the negative.
"We import majority of the bikes from Thailand, which has a free trade agreement with India, while the flagship products like Panigale are imported from Italy. So we will be focusing our investments on network expansion and brand building exercise," Avalur said.

In March, Ducati announced re-entry into the Indian market with plans to operate sales and service network under a subsidiary. The brand had made debut in India in 2009 under a partnership with Precision Motor India, which was its exclusive importer.

It took a pause in January last year when Ducati decided to open its own national sales company in India.