DSK Motorwheels is a company that has been on the rise in India ever since it took over South Korean automaker Hyosung’s operations in the country from Garware. Shirish Kulkarni, heir of the DSK Group, has been in the thick of things, rallying his troops to facilitate excellent sales figures. The only plant of this company is located in Wai, which is located outside Satara and the firm has done a fabulous job to mark its beginning in the highly competitive Indian market. With an aim of capitalising on a good start, DSK Motorwheels hopes to manufacture two-wheelers in India in the coming future, something that officials from the firm have confirmed officially.
In a recent development, rumours from Intermot show in Germany claim that DSK Motorwheels is going to be on the offensive in future. Autocar has reported that DSK is on the brink of striking a deal with Italian bike giant Benelli, which is known for producing top class motorcycles. Should this deal go through, it will become the third biggest merger between Indian and foreign bike makers after TVS-BMW Motorrad and Bajaj-KTM. DSK Motorwheels is a growing company and experts feel that this merger has top potential to turn into a huge success. The demand for motorcycles, even in the high-price segment, is growing and such ventures have huge upside potential, something that DSK Motorwheels would definitely be considering.
Benelli, from what it seems, does not have any kind of presence in India, even among the die-hard biking fans, who love firms like Ducati, BMW-Motorrad, Kawasaki and Honda. Nevertheless, the pedigree of Benelli cannot be undermined as it is a firm that has been in the market for a century and began operating before 1920. In fact, it is among the oldest Italian bike makers and has a wonderful history, which is full of events and successes. Like a lot of other Italian motorcycle manufacturers, Benelli has also undergone acquisition several times and is a division of Qianjiang (Q.J.) Corporation, which is based in Wenling, China.
The merger between DSK and Benelli, according to experts, is going to be highly beneficial for both firms. While DSK will mark its presence in the above 300 cc bike segment in India, Benelli will get a crack at the world’s largest two-wheeler market.
A typical Italian firm, Benelli manufactures amazing looking bikes that are sharp, lean and mean machines. According to reports, Benelli BN302 has the biggest probability of entering the Indian market. This bike is looks typically Italian and features a 300 cc parallel twin engine that churns out up to 36 BHP of power. DSK Motorwheels and Benelli will take huge inspiration from the Bajaj-KTM partnership, which has performed exceptionally well in India despite the Austrian bike maker being an unknown entity some time ago.
Sources claim that DSK Motorwheels is working hard on getting Benelli to launch an entire line-up in India, which will include the BN series (powered by 600 cc engines), 898 cc TNT 899 and TNT1130R, a model that develops an output above 155 BHP. Although nothing has been confirmed yet, this merger looks like a done deal and that means nothing but progress for the Indian bike market.
