Hyosung GD 250N, 250R may be scrapped

DSK Hyosung may not be launching the much awaited single cylinder bikes – the GD250N and the GD250R, DSK Motowheels chairman Shirish Kulkarni revealed to ZigWheels.

The Hyosung GD250N has generated considerable interest since it was launched at the 2014 Auto Expo, thanks to its sharp looks and quarter litre engine, raising hopes of an affordable performance machine. The bike is powered by a 249cc single-cylinder, liquid cooled engine making 28PS power at 9,500rpm. Peak torque of 24Nm arrives at 7,000rpm.

The 250N and its faired version, the GD250R, were to be launched later this year in India.  But now it seems that has been postponed, and may even be cancelled, if these bikes aren’t manufactured in India and sticker prices are competitive. Both bikes were to be assembled by DSK Motowheels at their Maharashtra plant, for the Indian market.

“GD 250N and R both are being planned, but they will not be launched this year. Maybe next year, but that depends on the costing. The costing right now is not fitting in and I don’t want to launch another 2.5-3 lakh bike. The Benellis are doing well, and this will just eat into their pie. Both of them are single cylinder bikes and ideally should be cheaper than the GT 250R, but as per the current costing it’s cheaper only by about Rs 5,000. So, it doesn’t make sense to have them,” said Kulkarni.

DSK Motowheels is already in talks with Korean bike maker S&T Motors to manufacture Hyosung bikes in India. Kulkarni said the discussions have been going on for over three years now, but only recently have the Korean bike maker warmed up to the possibility of setting up a manufacturing hub in India. Once that happens, the entire range of Hyosung bikes may be manufactured in India, and costs will come down as well.

“These bikes will be launched only if the localisation plan takes off. If that project doesn’t take place, we’ll scrap the launch,” Kulkarni said.

Currently, the Pune-based company has an assembly plant in Wai, Maharashtra with a capacity of about 2000 units per year.  This also doubles up as the assembly plant for Benelli bikes. DSK has already acquired a second plant as a ready set-up in Pune. This plant will have capacity of producing 50,000 units a year and will be 100 per cent operational within a year and a half.

If an agreement is reached to manufacture Hyosung bikes in India, DSK would be looking to start sourcing from local vendors, and set up a large supply chain needed to manufacture Hyosung bikes that could be exported to international markets as well.