Modenas to introduce two Bajaj bikes in 1Q18

KUALA LUMPUR: Motosikal dan Enjin Nasional Sdn Bhd (Modenas) plans to introduce two more models from its collaboration with India’s Bajaj Auto Limited (BAL) in the first quarter of next year.

Chief executive officer Amirudin Abd Kadir said while the sports tourer Dominar 400cc has been almost confirmed as one of the models, Modenas also mulls a utility bike - the Boxer 150cc for the Malaysian market.

“The street bike fresh segment is expected to enhance Modenas sales and market share moving forward,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of a Bajaj-Modenas dealers’ meeting at BAL’s headquarters in Pune, India last week.

Thirty-five members of Modenas dealers and financial institutions, and 20 members of 19 Malaysian media organisations were in India last week to visit BAL’s plant and get a deeper insight into its operations, as well as to test ride several Bajaj latest generation motorcycles.

The Dominar range, which is positioned by BAL as “the sports tourer”, is aimed at becoming a leader in 250cc to 500cc segment, while the Boxer is portrayed as an economic workhorse that is made stronger to last longer.

“Whether we bring in the Boxer or not, it will be subject to further study on market demand, whether there is demand for such a bike in Malaysia,” Amirudin said.

After a successful venture with Taiwanese scooter brand Kymco, Modenas had since April teamed up with BAL with the hope that the Indian company’s proven technologies in motorcycle manufacturing would help it churn out hardy, reliable and attractivelypriced bikes.

BAL is the third largest motorcycle and largest three-wheeler manufacturer in the world. The company is also India’s number one exporter of motorcycles and three- wheelers. It exports its products to 78 countries in Latin America, Africa, South Asia, Middle East, and Asia Pacific.

The BAL-Modenas collaboration has brought in three Bajaj models to Malaysia’s streets since May, namely V15 (café racer styling), Pulsar NS 200 (naked street bike) and Pulsar RS 200 (racer sports) at gross prices RM5,650, RM8,700 and RM10,700, respectively.

For the upcoming Dominar 400cc and Boxer 150cc, automotive analysts and media members expect the gross selling prices for Malaysia to be below RM20,000 and below RM6,000, respectively.

While Bajaj bikes were brought in CKD ( completely knocked down) from India since BAL does not have a Southeast Asian hub, Amirudin said plans were already in place in the Modenas-BAL collaboration to install an assembly line at a plant in Gurun, Kedah.

The Gurun plant, which belongs to Modenas currently operates at a 50,000-unit motorcycle annual production capacity.

Its full 120,000-unit motorcycle annual production capacity can be further optimised to 200,000 units with realignment and outsourcing certain processes such as painting.

Amirudin said Bajaj current line-up accumulatively sold 2,000 units in Malaysia since their launch in May and hit a surprise 35 per cent market share in the street bike 150-250cc segment in September.

Based on overall Malaysia’s two-wheeler total industry volume (TIV) circa average 450,000 units, he said Modenas might ended up this year with a market share of nine per cent or more than 51,000 units from the moped, scooter and the new street bike segment sales.

He said Modenas aimed to capture 13 per cent to 14 per cent market share of the TIV next year, which might be equivalent to about 70,000 units, including sales from Bajaj bikes.

The moped segment had all this while contributed the biggest chunk of Modenas market share to the TIV, he said, adding that a survey showed that Malaysian riders who purchased moped preferred having a carrier/basket on their bike for convenience’s sake.

“But we’ve got to drop three of our moped models this year due to the Euro 3 regulation. We hope with the new street bikes models that Modenas brought in, they can change the mindset of Malaysians from moped to street bikes. That is a challenge for us,” he said.

The Malaysian national motorcycle company has allocated RM4 million as capital expenditure on branding and visibility of its motorcycle models for two years, starting from the current financial year ended March 31, 2017.

Modenas’s equity is shared by DRB-Hicom Bhd (81 per cent) and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (19 per cent), and the motorcycles are distributed by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Edaran Modenas Sdn Bhd. — Bernama