This has been an interesting year for India’s two-wheeler industry.

It saw the revival of a decades-old motorcycle brand, Jawa, which is due to hit roads in the coming months. Another iconic scooter brand, Lambretta, will also make its comeback two years down the line. Clearly, going retro is the new way forward even while existing players are going the extra mile in staying ahead of the rest.

Going by the current market response, it looks as if Jawa has hit the bull’s-eye in attracting customer interest in a big way. This Czech motorcycle brand has been out of the landscape for many years now but the fact that it is now being rebooted in an all-new avatar has been enough to get the adrenaline rush back among buyers.

Jawa Vs Enfield?

Jawa clearly has market leader Royal Enfield on its radar even while the latter has aroused tremendous interest among potential customers with its latest 650 cc twin offerings — the Interceptor and Continental GT. How will Royal Enfield stand up to Jawa is the million dollar question, which will be answered by the first half of 2019.

Both players will pull out all the stops to woo customers in a big way. In Royal Enfield’s favour is the fact that it has been around for many years and is clearly a successful player with over 70,000 motorcycles produced every month.

However, the reliance on the Classic has been overwhelming in its portfolio and this is where the new 650 cc twins will play a big role in boosting the overall brand image. The Interceptor is expected to get a lion’s share of bookings and Royal Enfield will be pleased if the overall numbers of both models, including exports, are in the region of 10,000 units a month.

From the Jawa brand perspective, there will be tremendous interest from old-timers who once owned the brand. GenNext, likewise, will be keen to check out the bike that their dads once rode. If everything goes according to plan, right from product quality to distribution, Jawa could just end up being a worthy Number Two to Royal Enfield.

These are early days yet, however, and there are many instances of brands promising the moon initially only to wilt subsequently. India’s new set of buyers are also discerning and have a wide choice of other models. Be it the 650 cc twins from Royal Enfield or Jawa, the true measure of their success can only be made by end-2019 when they will have been put through the grind by their users.

As for Lambretta, it is again part of the retro wave albeit in the scooter category. It was always a distant Number Two/Three brand in the 1970s to Vespa and Chetak though it had its own unique traits in size and styling.

Lambretta to return

Lambretta was never on the top end of the scale in aspiration and this is where it will strive to be different when it debuts at the 2020 Delhi Auto Expo in an electric avatar. Where it will not have any problem is in brand recall since, like Jawa, it has already been a resident of the two-wheeler landscape.

However, its owner, Innocenti, will need to work extra hard on its pricing and premium positioning while striving to balance the modern offering with a retro feel. Fellow Italian competitor, Vespa, has not been very successful in the premium scooter space though its manufacturer, Piaggio, insists that it is not in the numbers game.

Yet, both Vespa and Lambretta will also strive to make a strong statement with their electric scooters. After all, today’s younger generation is concerned about the environment and clean emissions. If they believe these electric scooters, be it Vespa or Lambretta, are good mobility options, then the momentum will be in place to take the story forward.

Forging partnerships

Beyond the retro theme, 2018 also saw Harley make its intent known on growing its Asia presence, which will happen in the mid-capacity motorcycle space. Harley plans to develop 250 cc-500 cc bikes along with a local partner since it knows this is the only way to boost volumes in markets like India and ASEAN.

Now who could this ally be? To some industry observers, Hero is a strong contender since it has economies of scale, which will be a strong attraction point for Harley. By the end of the day, the American motorcycle-maker is hoping to “fuel customer access and growth in India, one of the largest, fastest growing markets in the world, and other Asia markets”.

There has been no update since the announcement was made halfway in 2018 but it is logical to presume that Harley will step on the gas aggressively to ensure that something is finalised soon. India is gearing up for Bharat Stage VI emissions in 2020 and any alliance will look at producing suitably compliant models.

Harley will also need to ensure that its new mid-capacity motorcycle range strikes a chord with users who will still look for the unique (Harley) DNA of big, powerful bikes. Harley aspirants should eventually be able to own something that is more affordable and yet makes the right brand connect.

This is precisely what Triumph of the UK is striving for in its alliance with Bajaj Auto where the first motorcycle could roll out by 2020-21. The partnership intends producing models in the mid-size range ranging from 350 cc-700 cc range both for India and other emerging markets.

Bajaj also has a successful relationship with KTM of Austria in which it holds a 48 per cent stake. The Chakan plant near Pune has been the production hub for lower displacement KTM motorcycles (125 cc-400 cc), which are shipped out to a host of countries.

The next step in this partnership is to produce the Husqvarna range (which KTM had acquired five years ago) at Chakan and also export it to other emerging markets. Beyond this is the likelihood of bigger displacement KTM bikes of up to 800 cc made at Chakan and sold both in India and other parts of the world.

TVS and BMW Motorrad have also sewn up an alliance for mid-capacity motorcycles and this is yet another instance of an Indian two-wheeler maker being right on top in the quality game. The partners will obviously be keen to take their bonding to the next level, which could see more models and TVS playing a far bigger role in the BMW tie-up.

The year also saw Honda make known that it would expand its plant capacity at Gujarat to 1.8 million units by 2020. The company has been growing at a frenzied pace since the time it parted ways with Hero eight years ago and now has four plants rolling out over six million motorcycles and scooters.

Hero continues to be the lead player while Honda will be hoping that the BS VI era will enable it to leverage its global competencies and emerge on top eventually. The next decade will see a new tug-of-war emerging in India’s two-wheeler terrain where the likes of Suzuki and Yamaha will also strive to increase their presence. These are interesting times for sure.

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