After meeting with huge success in the scooters market in India, M&M is now eying the motorcycle market. Over the past few months there have been indications from the company officials regarding their plan of entering the motorcycle market.

As per Anoop Mathur, Mahindra two-Wheelers’ president, they are already ahead of their sales target by selling one lakh scooters in just 10 months as opposed to their target of selling the same number of units in 18 months. Their immediate plan is to enter the motorcycle market.

As per Anoop Mathur they are planning to launch their first motorcycle by the end of 2010. This motorcycle would be assembled at the same manufacturing unit where the scooters are assembled.

As per the sources the company is working on a motorcycle at its Italy based Engines Engineering which was taken over by M&M in the year 2008.

We expect the first motorcycle from M&M to be from the commuter segment which is based on Kinetic Boss.

After bringing in a commuter bike, M&M would also be launching a high performance bike in the months to come. It was earlier reported the M&M has been talking to UK and Italian based motorcycle manufacturers to launch a high end product.

In order to penetrate the Indian motorcycle market, M&M would have to arrive with some unique and interesting products as it would not be easy to stand against the likes of Hero Honda and Bajaj.

Source: BankBazaar

Mahindra Two Wheelers first product in the motorcycle segment of the Indian two-wheeler market will be a commuter motorcycle, reports NDTV Profit. Mahindra’s commuter motorcycle will be based on the platform of the erstwhile Kinetic Boss. The Boss was Kinetic’s offering in the commuter segment a few years back.

IMB had earlier speculated that Mahindra could use the Kinetic Boss’s platform for its commuter motorcycle, and this has now been confirmed by NDTV Profit.

Mahindra has given its commuter bike the internal codename A02. The bike will use the Kinetic Boss’s platform, but will have an engine which will be imported from China. This should give Mahindra a huge advantage in terms of cost savings and should enable them to position their product competitively in the Indian market.

Mahindra is planning to launch its first motorcycle around the festive season, to attract buyers towards its product, and aims to price its product in the 35-40000 price bracket. This will result in the motorcycle locking horns with the Hero Honda CD Dawn and the Bajaj Discover 100.

Also, sources indicate that Mahindra is also working on two more motorcycle platforms, one for an executive segment offering and another for a premium segment motorcycle.

The commuter bike from Mahindra could come and shake up the dynamics of the 100 cc segment of the Indian motorcycle market, but I feel the biggest chink in its armor will be its Chinese engine, since Chinese engines have very poor quality and reliability and the Indian consumer has now become very sensitive to a product’s overall quality.

Source – NDTV Profit

Speaking to Business Standard, a marketing official of Mahindra’s two-wheeler division divulged details on the launch date of its new motorcycle for India.

D Shinde, vice president, marketing, Mahindra Two-Wheelers -

We are currently working on launching a motorcycle from the Mahindra stable that can be expected to hit the market some time in March 2011. Our priority is to focus on that for now

The motorcycle market in India is expected to be around eight million vehicles a year and it makes business sense for Mahindra to enter this space. Mahindra is working with its Italian partner Engines Engineering and Taiwan-based company Sanyang Industry Company Ltd. for developing this two-wheeler which could be a commuter.

It was earlier reported that Mahindra is looking at bringing high-end motorcycles into India by partnering with an overseas brand.

Mahindra is expected to produce this motorcycle at its two-wheeler plant at Pithampur near Indore which has an annual capacity of 5,00,000 units.

(image simply for representation purpose and not related to the Mahindra motorcycle)

Source – Business Standard

Now that the 125cc Cevalo from SYM is ruled out as Mahindra’s first motorcycle, the quest is on to learn what’s happening behind closed doors of Mahindra’s development centre.

The company is working on a motorcycle which will be launched in 2010. On his twitter page, Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman of the Mahindra group replied to a question on superbikes and whether the company is developing one based on the concept it showed at the Auto Expo.

Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman Mahindra Group -

It’s coming! U won’t hv to wt long

We don’t think Mr.Mahindra is going bestow upon us something close to 1,000cc or 100bhp. But deep down inside, we hope we’re wrong.

Image Credit – Motoroids