[TDC]

Wasn't Bajaj supposed to release the KTM 690 Duke here in India sometime about now? What ever happened to that rumour?

[niks_devil666]

What I had heard was there was some survey done and it was not found suitable for India (high price tag for naked tall weird looking bike) .

[GreaseMonk]

It's probably the smart thing to do. Especially with new contenders coming in at the 6 lakh segment, the KTM wouldn't fare very well as it's a little too 'radical' for people to invest their money in. I for one would love one as I see it as immensely practical compared to a Harley or a Hyosung GT650R, but there isn't enough bling to get the general public interested in it.

[Nilesh5417]

Rahul Bajaj's interview today on moneycontrol says that there are no plans to launch the Duke in India. It will be for export only.
But the good news is that they may look at brining in the bigger ninja at the end of this fiscal. Here are the specifics.

Q: Two bikes that you are going to launch for which the analyst fraternity is very excited about. First of course is the KTM Duke and the opposite end of the spectrum would be the Kawasaki 650 cc if I am not wrong. Tell us about both of these and what the gameplan is?
A: As far as the KTM is concerned, we hope to start around March-April next year. The idea is to first start with exports to Europe which is the strongest market for KTM. That will be the Duke 125 and after that we might look at expanding sales overseas first before bringing it to India for the simple reason that although Bajaj has done well in India with motorcycles to come up to 300,000 motorcycles a month.
At the same time we must acknowledge that we have just about 30% market share and this is the time when we have to continue to focus on Discover and Pulsar in the domestic market and not distract ourselves with the KTM here.
As far as the Kawasaki is concerned, yes, it is true that we are thinking of bringing in a bigger Ninja. It might be the 650cc. But to be honest we haven’t made that decision yet. But towards the end of the financial year we should have a bigger Ninja in the marketplace.