‘Looking to recapture 25-30% of premium motorcycle segment’

NEW DELHI: US-based niche bike maker Indian Motorcycle is seeking to replicate the growth in India which it has witnessed in other global markets, and expects to garner 25-30% market share in the premium motorcycle segment, having suffered a “washout” in 2020, according to a senior company official.

The company, a whollyowned division of Polaris Industries Inc that sells a range of imported bikes priced between ₹15.68 lakh and ₹43.96 lakh, was unable to operate fully in the Indian market due to non-availability of BS-VI compliant models besides the disruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Globally, we are registering growth everywhere, we are getting market share. There is a double-digit growth in North America, in Asia-Pacific, in Europe and in Japan. It gives a clear indication that the brand is growing everywhere,” Polaris India Pvt Ltd country manager Lalit Sharma told PTI.

As for the Indian market, he said last year was very tough for everyone and unfortunately or fortunately, it was more of a “cooling period for us because we were not having any Euro V (BS-VI) motorcycles at that time. We received the new set of motorcycles early this year only”.

However, Sharma added this year is pretty strong with the company.

“We have a new set of motorcycles... The new Chief series and more affordable bikes are coming up... Customer inquiries and orders have gone tremendously up. New customers are coming in and dealers are pretty positive,” he said.

Before 2020, Indian Motorcycle had around 25-30% market share in the country’s premium bike segment that is, at present, close to around 1,000 units a year.

When asked if Indian Motorcycle would look to regain that market share this year with the arrival of the new bikes, he said, “I think we will focus on that because that’s the kind of solid growth which we are targeting this year. And definitely, we will see the overall industry by the end of this year and where we are and what needs to be done in the next year.”

Commenting on the impact due to the pandemic, Sharma said, “If we talk about premium motorcycling, it’s all about brotherhood and it’s more of a social gathering (through group riding). Technically speaking, it has been impacted by the pandemic globally, not just in India.” Due to the pandemic, the rides that the company used to organise in different parts of India were completely halted, he added.