[avishar]

So last year Mahindra stopped sharing the sales figures of Classic Legends Pvt Ltd, the company which was setup to handle Jawa motorcycles, their sales and distribution of the brand. The motorcyles themselves are made at Mahindra's two-wheeler plant at Pithampur.

Why Has JAWA Stopped Sharing Sales Numbers?

All the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) share dispatch numbers every month which are considered as eventual sales. Mahindra does that for its Mojo and other products, however, its subsidiary Jawa does NOT! It must be noted that Jawa did share its monthly numbers for the first three months. Here they are..

Jawa Sales Numbers
January 2019 – 44
February 2019 – 130
March 2019 – 54
But after that it stopped revealing its sales numbers without providing any reason whatsoever! We thought after a gap of few months, we would get to see figures again, but that has not just happened!

But this month FADA started sharing retail-wise sales by OEM, so can't hide the numbers anymore.



And the numbers are not great. Only 569 Jawas were sold in July 2020 down from 991 sold last year.

If we take the pre-Covid era as an indicator of true sales potential, last year Royal Enfield sold almost 6 lakh 350s. They also sold over 20,000 of the 650 twins which by itself would have outsold the Jawas.




With the next-gen 350s coming soon, Enfield will only solidify its marketshare.

The worrisome bit for Mahindra is that they have more than a 100 dealerships now for Jawa! But I dont think they will be not be able to hold them for long considering that selling 7-8 motorcycles per dealership per month is definitely not great business.

So why has Jawa been such a problem child for Mahindra Inc?

Its a iconic brand with a great brand recall in India. They didn't have to spend much time building the brand, people rushed to put their deposits down without even test-riding the motorcycle.

There is a huge captive market in India already thanks to the 350s and competition was definitely welcome by the consumers. Just like Royal Enfield, the brand had loyal followers abroad too, setting it up for potential export success.

But none of that happened really. With production problems, delivery delays, quality issues Jawa motorcycles instead has a become a bit of an internet joke today.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by avishar

So why has Jawa been such a problem child for Mahindra Inc?

But none of that happened really. With production problems, delivery delays, quality issues Jawa motorcycles instead has a become a bit of an internet joke today.

As a brand, they arrived with a bang and got extinguished in no time. I havent followed various news on Jawas since they nor RE dont interest me much. But as an aam aadmi, I have more or less forgotten the brand. Even though I am not into RE either, at least I hear about new products, see a lot of bikes around, a lot of improvements done over the years, so much of brand related events etc from my friends, colleagues and whom not. This means that the word of mouth popularity that many brands get in India have has not happened with the Jawa, or whatever happened in the beginning has died down. I cant remember when I saw a Jawa on the road.

For a brand that got so much attention and appreciation in the beginning, what happened to all those pre bookings and owners who booked without even seeing product in person?

Did the company take good care of this group of people, who would have been their best brand ambassadors over time? I guess not. How many ownership reviews of the Jawa do we have here on the forum? Things like indirectly determine what happens to the brand in the longrun. I think it is evident that they launched the brand in a hurry, without even getting the basic things right. Not sure if the brand can improve anytime soon either.

[TwinAlco]

The initial high waiting period coupled with lack of information certainly put off many buyers including me.

Currently my friend is looking for a Jawa, the showroom in Tirupati is quoting 15000 above ex-showroom price and justifying it on flimsy reasons. There are various stories wherein dealerships are overcharging and adding hidden costs which may definitely be a put off. Coupled with the fact RE has been highly transparent with pricing and most RE showrooms are next door.

The other is about the riding ergonomics and appeal to the macho feeling. The Jawa 42 is extremely comfortable and refined to ride no doubt. I enjoyed riding the Jawa 42. However its seat height is too low (equal to that of a scooty pep). RE is the by default choice for tall riders here as very few bikes give the big bike feel like RE. This is sort of a contradiction for the Jawa the low seat height makes it almost like an avenger and thus does not appeal to the macho feeling like an RE.

I hope Mahindra integrates Jawa and Mojo showrooms as two excellent products are being undone due to sales division apathy. Mojo is also not deserving the attention it requires. Mahindra should see that when a customer is putting 2 lakhs on a motorcycle he gets the peace of mind and does not feel ripped off. Jawa Mojo integrated company owned showrooms could be a starter in this area. RE Company owned showrooms have given a professional and trustworthy feel.

At 500 vehicles a month its half of even the Dominar!

[anjan_c2007]

The hype and hoopla that was noticed during its launch painted a very positive market outlook for brand Jawa. And the euphoria created prior to the launch was something like what the RK films (Raj Kapoor banners) used to do during its hey days, very successfully. A few of the RK to be launched film-songs would be released quite ahead of the film release. Raj Kapoor had a musical ear and could very well use his sixth sense to foresee which of the catchy melodies would be hits ! And these would top the popularity charts much before the film's release. The film would be a hit ( except only Mera Naam Joker (1970), that flopped after release). And Raj Kapoor had not studied Marketing.

Coming to the Classic Legends and Jawa's rebirth, we had so many marketing experts involved, including the top honchos of Mahindra and Mahindra. They had created a similar RK film like euphoria much before and fans eagerly awaited the launch. Post launch, the initial reports based on feedback from buyers were not encouraging. The enthusiast is always ready to pay a premium for a good product. But for the Jawa, it was a dream turned sour and hence buyers kept a safe distance. Cancellation of bookings and thereafter refund gremlins were also publicised. Even the recently launched Perak, appears to be a flop. Ever since the launch, I was wondering as to why we are not seeing as many new Jawas as RE Bullets on the streets ?

I believe had the company launched a proven, tried and tested bike model with modern touches, with the help from the parent Jawa Moto, Prague, (now fading away) things would have been different.

The factory in Pithampur, M.P. has seen production runs of more than two dozen models mopeds, scooters and bikes. The Luna moped (many variants), Spark, Kinetic Honda (2 stroke) were among the only successful, mass selling and accepted models. Most of the other Kinetic two wheelers and Mahindra bikes/scooters flopped miserably. But the Classic Legends, Jawa, could have been a best-seller only if the conceptualising and execution were proper.

[ABHI_1512]

I seriously considered Jawa 42 and liked the understated style and the ride quality as well. Little low but I liked the feel when I took the test ride. The initial euphoria was through the roof and the dealerships didn't have any answers for the delivery schedule. It baffles me no end that a brand that has such iconic brand recall and somewhat competent product is not selling anymore.

I for one, put on the purchase on hold for the lackluster delivery schedule. But now that certain time has passed since launch, I don't see many Jawas on the road and that is surprising despite the initial booking craziness. Some reviews have also cropped up regarding the long term reliability and the sales figures kind of tells us the story so far. I will still like to think that the return of the brand doesn't get killed off early and that I still can get to ride the beauty. Sincerely want someone from the management to look into the issues plaguing the brand and that they get the corrective actions taken at the earliest.

[abhi7013]

Am exploring the market for a bike within 4L and only the 650 twins seem to stand out. While the service costs for Ninja seem to be a let down, the R3 too disappoints on comfort and looks as it can hardly be differentiated from its younger sibling. So not keen on waiting for their bs6 counterparts.

Looking at the sales numbers, with facelifts coming in for the RE classics, their numbers would only keep climbing.

However, the two things stopping me from finalizing the purchase of int650 are the hopes that Honda CBR 300r comes to India soon or RE launches a facelift of the 650 twins (not a fan of the existing colour options and the uncomfortable seat). Hardly any options in the 3-4L segment which is disappointing.

Was eyeing Jawa too but the sales numbers speak for themselves.

[rajshenoy]

JAWA re-entry was a big bang and what followed was long waiting periods(I even heard 8-10 months!!) I wonder why such a long waiting period especially when they hardly sold !!

Does that mean they are producing these bikes in a small garrage(all hand made) with a bike a day ?

Something is not adding up !!

Personally i really love the way Jawa 42 looks and have heard a lot about the engine, While benneli did not even have a chance, JAWA appeared like the perfect rival for RE.

Being in Bangalore, I have never come across a single touch point in whole of East Bangalore(where most of the IT folks work) there are hardly 3-4 service touch points with very average review. Not sure if Mahindra are following the foot steps of original JAWA bit too seriously(which eventually shut shop !!)

[rahul4321]

In my opinion, there are a variety of reasons the Jawa's have not been able to sell the huge numbers they wanted to; I have listed a few of them below.

(a) Launch: Most of the manufacturers today do a digital launch but the timing between a digital launch and the display vehicle being available in a showroom is zero or at the most a week. With Jawa, I think it was more than 2 months (Please correct me if I am wrong). Interest dissipates really quickly if you cannot touch, feel, see and smell (I love the smell of new vehicles) a vehicle. Photographs and videos can hold your attention only for so long

(b)Test Rides: With the motorcycles not being in the showroom as mentioned in point A - test rides were out of the question. Most of the people today will not plonk in their hard earned money without taking an actual test ride to feel the comfort, ergonomics and performance of a vehicle. When the test rides didnt happen for 2-3 months after booking, people just cancelled their booking and went somewhere else / held back their money until test rides became available.

(c) Delivery Times: Their Delivery Estimator was a joke - very patronizing to say the least. Even otherwise, the huge 6 month delivery timescales were putting off people and just antagonizing them. You had people online who were waiting and waiting for their deliveries - dates being pushed back by dealerships and on the other end you had unconfirmed reports of people jumping the queue due to their personal contacts and getting a motorcycle delivered on the spot. People dont like to be insulted - especially when you are buying something with your hard earned money. I wrote a post about this on the Harley Davidson Thread

(d) Showroom Trash Talking about RE's - I was interested in the Jawa Classic (before I bought the Himalayan). I rode in to the showroom on my D390 and was talking to the Ahmedabad Showroom Manager about potentially buying the Jawa Classic. The conversation turned to me also looking at the RE Trials (yep, I am one of those), a Himalayan or a Bullet 500. The Showroom Manager started dishing out so much negativity about the RE's and how Jawa is going to make them extinct, I grew pretty tired of it really quickly. Not the best of things to hear when you have ridden an Electra 350 from 2011 to 2017. Its like insulting an ex-girlfriend or cursing her. You can do it yourself but if anyone else does it, you wont like it!

(e) The single disc / double disc business - They almost didnt make it out of that one. To launch a motorcycle with such fanfare and take ages to get into a showroom and then immediately upgrade it (with a few motorcycles already delivered to people who put down their money without even seeing the product) could have put them into the same spot which RE barely managed to get out of with the whole debacle on the Pegasus edition of the Classic motorcycles. You cannot have a motorcycle being put through an update when you havent even delivered the initial lot of motorcycles. If i was a guy who made the first booking and got the first motorcycle delivered in my city and found that there was an option for newer customers to get a double disc motorcycle within 30-60 days of me receiving my brand new Jawa, I would be absolutely upset because the company took advantage of my loyalty, my first-mover advantage, the fact that I put my money without looking at the product and then rubbing salt on my open wounds- the company rolled out an update in just 2 months after I got delivery which has made my brand new motorcycle an outdated motorcycle - even before it went to the first service

(f) Anupam Thareja - This is just my Pet Peeve - probably hasnt impacted much sales except maybe to folks who are like me. I read a lot about automotive 2 wheel strategy. There wouldn't be an interview online which I would have missed when it comes to the Royal Enfield CEO Siddharth Lal (classy and with an eye for details), Rajiv Bajaj of Bajaj (very well read and knowledgeable - just wish he didnt axe a Bajaj model every time he had to interrupt his sleep to get out of bed to drink water), The Munjals from Hero (still waiting for that all-Hero engine which will have no connection with the 98 cc Honda Engine you have been using for decades now), Mr. Srinivasan from TVS and his son I believe (who were pretty quiet uptill now - but have been saying the right things since the Norton purchase), Mr. Guleria from Honda (who only announces new launches and them clams up as soon as someone asks him to bring the 300-800 cc Honda's to India) and a few others. They all are for the most part quite sorted.

Somehow Anupam Thareja's interviews have for me been very aggressive and very bling-bling with marketing terminology. Also, when it comes to making statements towards competitors or their products - his interviews lack the maturity of a guy who has grown up from the roots, believes his product to be superior but also respects the strengths of the other products. His interviews, videos, speeches are very flashy and MBA-esque strategy positioned while not really appealing to the common folk. The more I read about him and his interviews, the more disillusioned I became. I think he needs to take a few leaves from his boss - Mr. Anand Mahindra in terms of how to engage with an audience. The Ponytail unfortunately doesnt help as it reminds me of another well known smooth talker who is currently being cursed by my neighbour as he isnt able to find a job even after getting an MBA degree from a so called reputed institute. Having said that, I have my hopes that he will definitely improve and learn from Mr. Anand Mahindra.

(g) The Perak - To showcase the Perak along with the two Jawa's and delay the actual launch/deliveries by almost a year is unheard of. Nobody does that. Either you dont showcase a production version so early or you dont deliver it so late. RE swiftly moved ground and showcased the Classic as a much competent solo cruiser in their advertising blitz once they saw the Perak effectively reducing the Perak to a paper tiger / fictional unicorn (take your pick). Sure the Perak still has its takers - but by announcing a missile from a hundred miles away, it did not give the shock-value they desired because the motorcycle went through significant brand fatigue even before it was physically delivered. I know this because I keenly went to see the two new Jawa's as soon as I heard of the showroom in Ahmedabad receiving them. By the time I heard, 1 year later of the Perak being at the Ahmedabad showroom, the excitement was no longer there for me. I have passed by the showroom countless times but havent yet dropped in.

(h) The Engine - Again my personal perspective. The motorcycle - for what it is meant to be is not what it is positioned as. A common complaint with my Duke 390 was that it has to be in the right gear at the right time because it has such a narrow power band. Put it in a gear too high and it will lug- put it in a gear to low and it will be at a stratospheric 8000 rpm with nowhere to go. The Electra (a cruiser - the ideal Jawa competitor) on the other hand could be easily ridden in a gear too high and it wouldnt lug. If you put it in a gear too low - it just wouldnt shift into that gear . However, the motorcycle could go dug-dug-dug while you could be lost in your thoughts and the gear-rpm-speed combination had a wide window of threshold before the engine made its unhappiness felt. That to me - is the definition of a cruiser. The Jawa to me felt just like the Duke - where I had to put it into the correct gear at the correct RPM at the correct speed or the engine would make its unhappiness felt. It had the erogonomics of a cruiser but the engine and gearbox of a sportsbike. That was the major reason I chose the RE Bullet 500 over the Jawa (and then at the last minute changed it to the Himalayan). I love cruiser like ergonomics but I also need the engine and gearbox combination of a cruiser. With my height of 5'5, the Jawa would have been so much better for me if it didnt have the edgy engine, gearbox and the narrow powerband which made me go up and down through the gearbox all the time as opposed to just chugging along slowly - even if it were in an improper gear.

(i) The Advertising - They were doing so well showcasing their rides and their "Jawa Tribe" - i think is what they call it. However, to sponsor MTV Roadies and all the trash talking is really uncool and absolutely does not establish any kind of a link between Jawa Motorcycles and the show - in terms of having similar brand virtues. They barely have anything in common and the show will only destroy the brand for people who look at the motorcycle as being a retro, cool motorcycle having vintage and a certain element of mystery which does not have to scream out loud from its rooftops to get attention. In Roadies - you have no choice but to scream out loud. Really disappointing with this move to sponsor Roadies.

Maybe they'll come up with a model with interests me in the future. Something like the Kawasaki Z800 or the Triumph Bonneville. An old school powerful cruiser which looks like one and also rides like one. I wouldn't mind shelling upto 6 lakhs for such a motorcycle which can munch miles.

[avishar]

Originally Posted by rahul4321

(f) Anupam Thareja - This is just my Pet Peeve - probably hasnt impacted much sales except maybe to folks who are like me.

Somehow Anupam Thareja's interviews have for me been very aggressive and very bling-bling with marketing terminology. Also, when it comes to making statements towards competitors or their products - his interviews lack the maturity of a guy who has grown up from the roots, believes his product to be superior but also respects the strengths of the other products. His interviews, videos, speeches are very flashy and MBA-esque strategy positioned while not really appealing to the common folk. T

You have hit the nail on the head. I looked into the company and what made them relaunch it, and more I read into it, the more I feel that this entire thing has been handled like a start-up.

This is not really a Mahindra Group project, but mostly the idea of the Thareja and Boman Rustom Irani, a real-estate honcho. Irani's family was the one who originally bought Jawa to India. There is a real lack of a bike guy at the head. Thareja had worked with RE for a while and later spent a decade building his venture capital firm. Later he set-up Classic Legends and started buying up brands (They own BSA).

Mahindra Group picks up a majority stake and the rest is owned by Thareja and Irani (who hold the rights to the name).

But I think the mistake which they made is that treated the whole project like a start-up with teething problems in production and lack of long-term testing of the finished product. Its like Tesla in their early days, but in the 1.75 lakh motorcycle market in India, buyers will not be so patient.

They still have time to save the brand, since the products are actually quite good and look great. Jawa is a very strong brand with extremely loyal fan following which can be expanded to a wider audience.

[GTO]

Big part of the blame goes to the Mahindra Group as well. This is their usual story = get excited, acquire a company with lots of glitz & glamour, throw a party, but follow it up with awful execution. Standard Mahindra playbook. Either they suck at execution or they don't have management bandwidth.

Think about all their acquisitions & tie-ups.

- How did Jawa fare? Answer is above.

- SsangYong? Loss making, and on the block.

- Reva? Dead. Could have been a 1st-mover in mass market EVs.

- Navistar Trucks. Who???

- 4 years since they acquired BSA Motorcycles. Results awaited.

- Mahindra-Renault JV? Divorce.

- Mahindra-Ford. Marriage, divorce, and now a desperate marriage (as Ford wants out).

- Peugeot. Doesn't look pretty yet.

- Other acquisitions include Carnation, Finland's Sampo Rosenlew, Erkunt Traktor Sanayii AS and more.

In comparison, consider Tata Motors. They made ONE notable acquisition (Jaguar-Land Rover) and executed it so well. The $2 billion they paid has been long made back, and they now own one of the most high-end luxury brands in the world.

[Red Liner]

They own Pininfarina Design too. Wonder how they are doing. Some loose banter that Pininfarina designed the new Thar.

[Sebring]

Then, what's stopping them? If the product speaks, then nothing else would have mattered. Motorcyclists, (as a tribe), are willing to wait for a great product. We would still see people queuing up. I think the 'word of mouth' on the product itself isn't that great

Originally Posted by avishar

They still have time to save the brand, since the products are actually quite good and look great.

[padmrajravi]

It was the inital delay in delivery. They did a big marketing push in the beginning but failed to sustain the momentum because nobody got hold of the actual product. With that marketing push, if they were able to put a lot of bikes on road, it would have been a different story. Whole Jawa launch felt badly executed.

Now if they want to get back, they have to spend on marketing again and this time focus on getting as many bikes on road. Imagine watching an ad in TV, and then going out and noticing the bike in your office commute. That is how potential customers realize a new entrant is out there and feel the urge to check it out. Iniital customers are very much part of the marketing effort.

[katsumoto]

Too much hype for the product before launch and too-many show ups without even showing the product live for long time, no test drive / long waiting periods (We were not ready to buy online then and even now). These are some of the business problems.

I rented a Jawa 42 for a day and below were my observations on their first flag-ship product.

1. I was told this has FTC (Flat Torque Curve) and I was experiencing no/less torque in low end felt me wished more all the time while driving.

2. Screwed up ergonomics, I have to sit down and handle bar is bit wide or on top in such a way that I am not comfortable for the entire day (I am 5' 7")

3. This thing heats up crazy. (N300, N/Z650 are absolutely breeze to drive even in heavy traffic Entire heat is re-directed towards the opposite direction of the fuel tank - Yeah not a nice comparison, But these are the only bigger bikes I have driven)

4. A Flat hard Seat, By 20 mins, I started feeling the needs to have 20 stacked inner-wears.

5. Didn't sound the way it expected (We would have had some nostalgia of the 2 stroke sound being sexy. But that was from different era altogether. But We just carried that waning sexy-ness in our mind. Come back to 2018, It wasn't sexy anymore)

IMHO, it was doomed to fail from the beginning.

[ajmat]

The difference is M&M make too many acquisitions and do not focus on what they want out of it, what they will do with it.

In the early 90's, I was part of a team of UK consultants undertaking a business process re-engineering project. In the initial talks, in the UK, the top management had great ideas of building Renaults or Chrysler Neons with modified Mahindra tractor engines in it (I am not kidding!). Cut to the chase, we spent nearly a year developing a comprehensive BPR plan with great opportunities but this got shelved (or partially implemented) due to the effort required, especially, with the union on this. This effort was bandied about the press and the transformation etc. but not much materialised.

Mahindra Ford was an expensive way to learn how to make cars. Again ditto with Renault. To create a brand, you don't do it on the cheap and put a premium on it. Renault only rescued its brand with the Duster.

Tata's go fewer and bigger in terms of acquisitions but put a lot of focus on it. They had successes in JLR and Tetleys however British Steel did not pan out as well.