Superbikes charm farmers in North, techies in South

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 24

There is a glaring North-South divide when it comes to superbikes such as Benelli, Harley-Davidson and Triumph. While farmers and defence personnel of Punjab and Haryana prefer the high- powered costly bikes, they lure suave techies and exporters in southern India.

The demand for high-powered superbikes (above 250cc) is growing in India because of rising income and improved infrastructure, says Benelli India Managing Director Vikas Jhabakh. Established in 1911, the Italian company Benelli was bought by Chinese conglomerate QJ in 2005.

“Customer profile in North is, however, different from South. In South, IT and pharma sectors have flourished, so our prospective customers are senior people working in these firms. But in the northern region, people having agricultural income, businessmen and defence personnel prefer buying superbikes,” says Jhabakh. The company has sold over 100 superbikes in Punjab and aims to double the number in the next one year. The Benelli model starts from Rs 2.5 lakh.

Harpuneet Singh, General Manager, Triumph Krishna at Chandigarh says looks of the bike is very important for the customers in the North while customers from southern states go for technical specifications. Triumph superbikes range between Rs 7.70 and Rs 25 lakh and its customers are usually big landlords, merchant navy officers, businessmen and medical professionals.

Harley-Davidson, one of the early entrants in Chandigarh market, has models ranging from Rs 5.31-Rs 53 lakh. Now the company is opening its outlet in Jammu and Dehradun also. “On an average, Harley sells around 15 bikes per month from Chandigarh outlet and the same number from Ludhiana,” says Saurav Saini, assistant manager, Himalayan Harley Davidson.

According to market experts, the total market size for the superbikes in the country is around 10,000-12,000 units per year excluding Royal Enfield. Punjab and Haryana (excluding NCR) corner 10% of the market. South India has 40% share in the pie.

The average age of customers buying such bikes in the North, particularly Punjab and Haryana, has declined to the 30s from the 40s, two years ago. Legendry American brand ‘Indian Motorcycle’ opened its sales outlet in Chandigarh in July 2016. These bikes are priced between Rs 12 and Rs 42 lakh.

Bike retailers say, in the North a lot of people instead of buying their first used car prefer to invest that money to upgrade to a superbike. Sales of these bikes are not limited to the metros alone, with tier-II and tier-III cities also witnessing some traction in the North and almost all the brands have presence in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana with BMW as the latest entrant in the tricity.