Enthusiasts seem disappointed with the Daytona 675R's price.. but one needs to look at the complete picture
Forget the knee jerk online reactions, Triumph Motorcycles has the potential to sell well in India..
Triumph Motorcycles Officially launched its product lineup in India on 28'th Nov and also announced the prices. Immediately post the launch, the online world started buzzing with reactions and comments. The general feedback so far (from internet forums and Facebook) is that most enthusiasts who were waiting seem disappointed with pricing. So has Triumph India got the pricing wrong?
Triumph India had revealed indicative pricing for the models in the 2012 Auto Expo. As seen in the table posted below, out of the 5 category of motorcycles, only in 2 (i.e. Roadsters and Super Sports) the pricing of has changed. The other prices of the other 3 categories have remained more or less same as the 2012 indicative price and in case of the Cruiser models the final price is actually lower..!!
| Model | Launch Price (Ex-Showroom Delhi) | Indicated Price @ 2012 AutoExpo |
| CLASSICS | ||
| Bonneville | 5.70 Lakhs | 5.50 Lakhs |
| Bonneville T100 | 6.60 Lakhs | ---- |
| Thruxton | 6.70 Lakhs | ---- |
| ROADSTERS | ||
| Street Triple | 7.50 Lakhs | 5.75 Lakhs |
| Speed Triple | 10.40 Lakhs | 8.00 Lakhs |
| SUPER SPORTS | ||
| Daytona 675R | 11.50 Lakhs | 7.00 Lakhs |
| ADVENTURE | ||
| Tiger 800 XC | 12.00 Lakhs | 11.40 Lakhs |
| Tiger Explorer | 17.90 Lakhs | ---- |
| CRUISERS | ||
| Thunderbird Storm | 13.00 Lakhs | 17.00 Lakhs |
| Rocket III | 20.00 Lakhs | 22.00 Lakhs |
Why do the enthusiasts seem disappointed?
Most of the disappointment seem to be due to the pricing of the Daytona 675R. The indicated price of 7 Lakhs for the Daytona 675 was a dream for those bikers who could not afford the 1000 cc (15-16 Lakh Rs.)Japanese Super Sports. The Daytona 675 is considered one of the best mid-weight (600 cc class) Super Sports and the exhaust note of the 3 cylinder engine is music to biker's ears.
I can visualize a typical "desi" middle class bike enthusiast, probably married, paying the EMI for his apartment and Hatchback car. He would have made plans to somehow somehow stretch for that 7 Lakh Daytona 675 Super Sports. But now at 11.5 lakhs those middle class Super Sports dreams have been shattered. And that's why the online despair.
Forget the knee jerk online reactions, Triumph Motorcycles has the potential to sell well..!!
The Daytona 675 could/should have been priced Rs. 2 Lakhs lower and the Roadsters (Street & Speed Triple) around 1 Lakh less. But even then the Triumph models actually offer a good alternative to the current CBU imports of Japanese companies. There is still substantial savings on the triumph models compared to the Japanese imports.
Super Sports: There is no denying that had Triumph stuck to the indicated price of the Roadsters and Super Sports it could have wiped out Kawasaki 650 and Hyosung models. Nevertheless even at 11.5 lakhs, the Daytona 675R is still significantly cheaper than a 1000 cc Super Sports like the Yamaha R1 (@ 15.6 Lakhs Ex-Showroom Delhi).
With a little bit of marketing effort Triumph Motorcycles can change the decision of bikers who might be thinking of the 15-16 Lakh R1, CBR1000RR, Ninja ZX10R or the GSX-1000R. After all the Daytona 675R will be equally fast on normal roads, sound awesome and still make a significant amount of savings.
Roadster/Street: Even the 1000 cc Roadsters/Street models like the Yamaha FZ1 has a price tag of 10.7 Lakhs the pricing of which has been matched by the Speed Triple. The Street Triple is infact a good 3 Lakh rupees cheaper.
Classics: The Bonneville is priced at the same level as the current Harley Davidson entry model the Iron 883 in India. The Bonneville has its own charm and if promoted well, I am sure there will be lot of takers for this model.
Adventure: Apart from BMW models which are obscenely priced, there are no Adventure model available in India. At 12 Lakhs the Tiger 800 XC might appear a bit costly but there are a lot of rich bikers who have been riding 1000 cc models like the R1, CBR1000RR, Hayabusa etc. who would want to ride an Adventure model. The Tiger 800 XC would be an excellent model for such bikers. All Triumph has to do is to reach out to such bikers.
Cruisers: I can tell about the Thunderbird Storm but the Rocket III has the USP of having the Biggest Engine on a Production model, and that 3 cylider 2,300 cc engine sounds like a Super Spors instead of a thumper. This one would be able to stand in a crowd of Harley Davidson's and that itself can make some Harley Riders change loyalty and switch to the Rocket III.
The recent online reactions are mostly by guys who had been riding glorified commuter motorcycles and have dreamed of proper Super Sports (beg your pardon if I am getting a bit repetitive) "Dhoom" dreams at 7-8 Lakhs of Rupees. But as pointed out there is still a lot of opportunity for Triumph to attract interested bikers.
Hopefully the plant near Bangalore gets operational soon as Triumph starts manufacturing its mid-size models along with its small capacity (250 cc model) in India. Maybe the middle class Super Sport dream might become a reality one day.
Related Posts
- Will Triumph manufacture its small model in India? [Oct 2013]
- Harley Davidson to price the Street 750 below 5 Lakhs in India, launch in Feb 2014 [Nov 2013]
Disclaimer:
This is to remind that the Views or Opinions in the blog are entirely mine unless explicitly stated. The Views and Opinions published in this blog should in no way be related to any other person or organization associated -- directly or indirectly -- with me.
2 Comments:
Triple is my choice. It looks fabulous.
They have taken the CKD route for 6 out of 9bikes and according to me the pricing could have been more competitive and as per my understanding of the market they could have earned more moolah by keeping the margins low on bikes. I was really keeping a close eye on the Adventure bikes and as per me the 800XC and Explorer will enjoy the advantage of being priced way better than that of the bimmers.
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