The progress of Indian two wheeler market seems to be really overwhelming at the moment and scope for new products has increased manifold. In the past few months, non-Indian companies, like Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, Suzuki and Yamaha, have been really aggressive in their approach, thereby reaping great benefits. A great example to quantify this premise would be the success of Suzuki Gixxer, a 155 cc bike that was launched not so long ago. This street sport motorcycle has already shaken up its segment and is challenging all its competitors. Not only do reviews of customers and critics certify the Suzuki Gixxer’s prowess, a statement from the company claims that this bike will be able to touch sales figures of 1 lakh units by the end of this fiscal.
According to a reports, Atul Gupta, Executive Vice-President for Sales and Marketing at Suzuki, has said that the demand for Gixxer is really high throughout the country and touching the magical 1 lakh figure this fiscal would not be tough at all. Gupta claims that regions like Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra have reported excessive demand for Suzuki Gixxer and within 15 days of its launch, the bike has received around 3000 bookings, which is quite amazing.
The launch of Gixxer is slated to have a positive effect on the market share of Suzuki, propelling the Japanese bike maker to increase one per cent share in the bike segment. In addition, its performance in the scooter vertical is also expected to rise above the current mark in coming months. Sources claim that Suzuki is hoping to create a foothold in the world’s largest two-wheeler market by working out various methods, including launch of new vehicles and expansion of dealerships in India.
At present, Suzuki has managed to touch 630 points across the country and has around 330 dealerships, a number it hopes to increase significantly in the coming time. The targeted point count is 1000 and the predicted dealership number is 600. All this is expected to be done by March 2015 and industry experts do not see any reason why Suzuki will not be able to do it.
Given the limited portfolio of Suzuki in the Indian two-wheeler market at the moment, its share and sales statistics are really low. However, the level of awareness among customers and their purchasing power have been rising, meaning international brands, including Suzuki, have a definite future. Right now, Suzuki has only three scooters and two bikes in its portfolio, something that it will certainly aim at expanding into double figures. Also, since India has a large number of young people, it is only uphill for Suzuki in the years to come. Young people are getting smarter day by day and will go for vehicles that suffice all their requirements, not just fuel economy and pricing. Suzuki Gixxer is an excellent example of the same and experts feel that the bike will become a customer favourite over the next year or so.
