Italian bike maker Benelli has launched its entry-level superbike Benelli 302R in India on Tuesday to compete with the likes of Kawasaki Ninja 300, KTM RC 390 and Yamaha YZF-R3.

Benelli, which is sold in partnership with DSK Motowheels, is planning to launch four more models this year, priced between ₹2 lakh and ₹8.5 lakh in the next six to eight months, Shirish Kulkarni, Chairman, DSK Motowheels, told BusinessLine .

The Benelli 302R is priced at ₹3.48 lakh and comes with a 300 cc parallel-twin, liquid cooled engine, with an output of 38.26 bhp and 26.5 Nm of peak torque at 10,000 rpm. The DSK Benelli 302R also comes loaded with (ABS) as standard and is the first track-focussed superbike from DSK Benelli.

“We have seen an phenomenal response for Benelli brand in India. In the first year of launch itself, we sold 2,500 superbikes and the growth has been tremendous since we brought the brand in India in March 2015,” Kulkarni said.

According to Kulkarni, DSK sold 4,000 Benelli bikes in the last financial year and is expected to cross 6,000 units this year. “It is a sellers market,” he said. “These bikes are not a necessity, people don’t need these bikes. They just want them. It’s a sentiment.”

Kulkarni said the market is still growing over 50 per cent year-on-year. DSK Motowheels is trying to tap into the opportunity further by bringing more superbike brands to India. “We are in talks with two European superbike brands already,” he said.

Kulkarni, however, emphasised that the company will stay away from partnering with any Chinese brands to focus on quality products.

“The Chinese market has no concept of customer service. So even if the Chinese brands offer you the specs that you need at a reasonable price, the quality is always poor and completely unreliable. Indian buyer needs a robust reliable product, which the European brands are known for. We are, therefore, trying to bring strong European brands to India instead of the Chinese brands,” he added.

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