Hyosung is seriously looking at the prospects of increasing its localized production percentage India. The company is currently examining vendors to supply components for production of its motorcycles in India with high localized content. In an exclusive interview with Motoroids.com DSK Motowheels Chairman Shirish Kulkarni threw some light on the company’s future plans for the Indian market. While talking about the localization plans for India, Mr. Kulkarni confirmed that the company is currently in the process of short listing vendors for local production.
While vendors are currently being scrutinized for attaining a higher local production percentage, the current localization level stands at about 10-15%. “We are in the process of shortlisting vendors and a have already sent a few locally manufactured samples to Hyosung Korea for verification. 2-3 months down the line we would see a few components of Hyosung motorcycles being made here, but to the extent of 10-15%. Majority of the parts would continue to be imported,” said Mr Kulkarni.
It will take some time before local production goes in full swing. The company is looking at 2015-16 to attain the target. Once the process is complete, Hyosung is looking at a reduction in prices of its products by 30-35%, depending on the volumes.
“We expect the pricing to come down by 30-35%. For bikes with large volumes, we are expecting a further decrease in pricing. But it would all depend on feasibility and we would be localizing the models which have a greater demand in the market. Nonetheless, we would ensure that the cost advantage gained due to localization is passed onto our customers” said Mr. Kulkarni
Hyosung is currently selling its GT250R, GT650R, GT650N, Aquila Pro and ST7 motorcycle models in India. While the prices of the higher capacity bikes of the brand are very reasonable, the lower capacity GT250R seems rather highly prices as compared with the competition. Going by Mr. Kulkarni’s statement, a reduction of 35% in the current price of the GT250N will bring it to the CBR250R levels, and make it much more competitively priced.
What do you think? Would a sticker price of Rs 1.7 lakh make the GT250R a competitive product for its segment? Do let us know via your comments
A price tag of 2 lakh would definitely be an extremely competitive addition to the 250cc segment.
yess offcrss.
coz thr r more upcomng bikes in 2015,
with a same 250 cc ingn comparetivly .
maximum onroad price of GT 250 R mst b atlst 2 lacks, to compete with othr same sgment sport bikes in India.
Ya sure price should be to 2 lakh