‘We would follow the trend where the market moves’

With the launch of Husqvarna in India, the country is agog and hungry for all the details of the new brand. Here’s Sumeet Narang, President (Probiking) at Bajaj Auto Ltd, with all the info

With the new brand coming in, how are you going to separate the two brands: KTM and Husqvarna?

I think they’re very different; as a matter of fact, I’m very excited that the two brands complement each other. KTM continues to be that bit of a badass, young, adrenalinepumping, raw kind of a brand; something which has a very nice following among the young 20-to-25-year-old and, of course, those older too. A great performance brand. Husqvarna is a more mature-looking bike, more understated. It has all the performance that a KTM would have but it doesn’t need to flaunt it. So, it’s really more for that self-assured mature rider who wants something which reflects his evolved sense of design and style. As you can make out, the brands are really different and it’s a progression for our customer to move from KTM to Husqvarna.

How has the transition been for you from Bajaj to KTM?

The interesting thing is that the category is very exciting. It will always inspire you to learn about it faster. As you are aware, within Bajaj we have got a very strong portfolio with the Pulsar, Avenger, and Dominar and with that we have engaged with a very similar kind of an audience. Of course, KTM takes it even two steps further; so, it’s a bit of a progression that way. I think it’s been an exciting journey. It has been amazing working with people who are totally into the product, totally into the segment; it’s something that inspires you to learn more about that category.

In the past, Bajaj have always stayed away from performance, whereas KTM is a performance brand. How does that fit in with the Bajaj philosophy?

It’s very simple to understand. There’s a corporate philosophy that we have which synergizes towards our principles towards governance, our way of looking at customers, looking at the trade. It synergises our backend but the brands are totally different. Even at Bajaj, we have launched a brand like V, which has got a very upright kind of image, and you have a Pulsar where we will always keep fooling around and messing around. Thus, we’ve always separated brands from the corporate.

Now you have launched the 790 and the next one is the 390 Adventure. When shall we get to know the price of the bike?

We hope to make it available at our showrooms by early January, early to mid-January. And I think that would be the time when we will share the price.

Coming to the Svartpilen and the Vitpilen, why the 250 and not the 401?

I think the quarter-litre is an amazingly sweet spot and that’s been our experience. For one, we launched KTM with the 200 and I think it did wonders. We feel that the 250 takes it two more steps ahead. A quarter-litre is something where you get outstanding performance and yet it has all the practicalities for everyday use. We believe that when we launch a new brand, it is very important to get a certain degree of scale. For us to launch the Svartpilen in a 790 is not a problem. We have the product available. But then you are really launching a hobbyist kind of a bike. Do you want more and more customers to ride it? Do you want it to be accessible? That’s why we launched the 250.

Similar to the earlier question, any time-frame for price announcements for the Husky duo? Closer to launch. We hope to have the bikes in our showrooms by early February and that’s when we would make an announcement about the price.

Husqvarna as a brand has always been about enduro, hardcore adventure, and off-road riding. Will you be bringing that aspect of the brand to our shores as well?

In India, as you are aware, the current market for off-road, enduro, motocross, etc, is very limited and we would follow the trend where the market moves. So, we would look at launching the Husqvarna more like a street bike brand with its minimalistic styling. It’s got a very powerful space within that. In the foreseeable future, I see the Svartpilen and Vitpilen being the epicentre of the Husqvarna brand in India.

And are they being built at the Chakan plant? Completely. I think the design guys have done a fantastic job and I think in terms of our material guys, the product guys, they have done a very god job of the finish, of the material.

‘As you can make out, the brands are really different and it’s a progression for our customer to move from KTM to Husqvarna’