Kawasaki eyes 25% share of superbike market in India by 2015; launches Z800 in Delhi

"We are looking at sales of 1,500-1,800 bikes in India in 2014. Of these, around 400 are expected to be in the superbike range that is fully imported," Shigeto Niskikawa, deputy managing director of Kawasaki's Indian subsidiary, told reporters on Monday. "We have a strong portfolio of superbikes and aim to capture 25 per cent of the Indian market by 2015."

The company plans to sell 1,200-1 ,400 units of its Ninja 300 and Ninja 650 models, which it assembles in the country. Kawasaki launched the Z800 at an ex-showroom price of Rs 8.05 lakh, adding to its India line-up of six motorcycles that have engine sizes ranging from 300cc to 1,400cc. These include the superbike models ZX14R, ZX10R, Z1000 and Ninja 1000.


Last year, the company sold 25 units of its imported bikes and about 1,000 units of two locally-assembled models.


In India, Harley Davidson is the segment leader with annual sales of about 3,000 units.


Kawasaki is also looking at expanding its sales network. "We are currently studying the options for the establishing a wider dealer network across the country. By the end of 2015, we plan to have around five dealers," Nishikawa said.


Kawasaki has two dealerships in the country — one in Pune and another in Delhi, which was inaugurated on Monday.


The company has not firmed up plans of setting up an assembling plant for completely knocked down vehicles. Kawasaki's executives said the company is looking at higher volumes to justify the local production of super bikes.


The company wants to achieve annual sales volume of about 160-200 units for each of its models before commencing CKD operations in Pune.

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Kawasaki launches 2012 Ninja 650R

It was the launch of the year. With covers removed from the 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 650R, the wait for Indian biking community has finally come to an end. The 2012 edition of Ninja comes with a host of new features including completely new designed fairing and headlamps. 2012 Ninja 650R also has new instrumentation cluster and improved center to gravity.

With the sticker price of Rs. 500,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi), will give tough competition to Hyosung 650R and upcoming Triumphs. Ninja ER6F is powered is by a parallel twin engine which produces 72 PS of maximum power which proves to be ideal for Indian roads.


Mr Amit Nandi, Vice President, Probiking, Bajaj Auto Ltd., said “In KTM and Kawasaki we offer two of the sportiest motorcycle brands in the world through a sales and after-sales network that has been specially created to cater to the specific needs of motorcycle enthusiasts. With the Kawasaki Ninja 250R and 650 we created a category of ‘practical superbikes’ and as a result enjoy a dominant market share of more than 60% in that category.”

Mr. Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto Ltd., said “KTM and Kawasaki are our global business partners and along with them we aim to build on our already dominant position in the sports motorcycle segment in India with the Pulsar. There are a number of initiatives in the pipeline on all these three brands that would be introduced over the next 18 months”.

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2013 Kawasaki Ninja 250R

No question, Honda hit a home run with the 2011 CBR250R, a compact, fully modern interpretation of the quarter-liter commuter/sportbike. The Honda entered a market segment that had been dominated by Kawasaki’s twin-cylinder 250R ever since the little Ninja’s introduction in 1986. The Kawasaki hadn’t seen many updates over the years, simply because there wasn’t much competition, although it did undergo a significant refresh in 2008. But in a Cycle World comparison test last year, those tweaks weren’t enough to let the Ninja match the refinement and build quality of the fuel-injected, ABS-equipped, single-cylinder CBR.

Hard financial times can provide great growth opportunities in this economical, entry-level category. So, when Honda priced its 2012 CBR250R ABS at $4599, which is just $400 more than the MSRP for the current non-ABS Ninja, Kawasaki was forced to react.

Rumors of an updated 250 Ninja (even the possibility of a displacement increase to 300cc) have been circulating for months, but information and photos of the 2013 model finally surfaced on Kawasaki Japan’s home-market website—much to the dismay of the U.S. arm of the company, which evidently had not yet been provided with this same material.

According to that website, the engine, frame and suspension are all-new. The liquid-cooled, dohc, eight-valve, 249cc parallel-Twin will almost certainly be fuel-injected, despite the disclaimer that EFI will not be available in all markets. (If competing against the rival Honda is the Ninja’s intent, injection would seem to be mandatory: In back-to-back testing for our comparison, the carbureted 2011 Kawasaki was not able to fuel as crisply as the injected Honda.) In an effort to endow the new Ninja with more-precise fueling, give it better throttle response, improve what is already excellent fuel economy (we averaged 60 mpg on our 2011 testbike) and reduce emissions, the engineers have fitted it with dual-butterfly throttle bodies.

Other engine changes include new cases with a larger oil sump, die-cast aluminum sleeveless cylinders treated with an anti-friction coating, anodized crankshaft journals also for reduced friction, new pistons and increased engine-cooling performance. All of it adds up to a powerplant that should be more efficient and that Kawasaki claims has more bottom-end and midrange power.

As for the chassis, the Ninja’s new high-tensile steel frame is more rigid to improve stability and handling. Additionally, the engine is rubber-mounted to reduce vibration. Revised suspension front and rear works in concert with wider tires (no sizing is listed) for a better performing chassis.

With the very real possibility of ABS becoming mandatory in some markets, Kawasaki has included it as an option. Weight for the standard model is listed as 379 pounds; add four pounds for the ABS model. These would seem to be accurate curb weights, given that the last Ninja we tested tipped the scales at 352 pounds dry.

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