THE next big war in the motorcycle segment is likely to happen in the high-end bike segment. Almost all bike makers are gearing up with a line-up for the super bike segment making the most of the new regulations for bikes of 800 cc and above. Suzuki Motorcycles India (SMIPL) is in the process of getting government approvals for this segment. SMIPL vice-president Atul Gupta said: “We are setting up three parallel process simultaneously to foray into the big bike segments. Mr Gupta refused to reveal the names of the bikes that are likely to be imported next year. However, auto industry sources believe the company is looking at importing Hayabusa and its GSX range of super sport bikes which could include GSX-1000. Japanese motorcycle maker Yamaha India has already got its service and dealership position in place and likely to import the first set of its super bikes by November. Yamaha Motor India managing director and CEO Tomotaka Ishikawa has already confirmed plans to bring in R1 and R6. Arch rival Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India has also said that they are keen on getting the high-end bikes and would not keep out of the battle heating up in this segment. Sources believe that the company is looking at importing its cult bikes CBR 1000 and GLX 1800. A senior marketing official with a two-wheeler maker said, “The market potential for the big bikes might be small as of now. But no two-wheeler maker can ignore the fact that almost every player will have a line-up ready for this segment. Especially the international bike makers will just have to pick and choose and homologate bikes from their international portfolio.” Home grown Bajaj Auto’s Rajiv Bajaj in a recent press meet has confirmed that he sees potential in the premium bike segment. In fact, Bajaj is close to finalising its partnership with its long time technical partner Kawasaki to enter the above 500 cc bike segment. Even Royal Enfield is building up a 500 cc engine to be strapped on its bikes.
