Bajaj To Manufacture Husqvarna Bikes In India

KTM and Bajaj Auto have enjoyed a great partnership which has enabled the Austrian bike maker to price its products competitively in India and global market as well. The first product to roll out of the KTM-Bajaj joint venture was the 200 Duke and later the revolutionary KTM 390 Duke. It’s been a decade since both the companies joined hands and now they have announced to take this partnership further. Bajaj Auto will manufacture Husqvarna bikes in India starting from 2018. The initial batch of the Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Svartpilen 401 and Vitpilen 701 will be built in KTM’s Mattighofen, Austria before the shift of base to Bajaj’s Chakan factory by late 2018. 

Only the Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 and Svartpilen 401 will be made in India, while the Vitpilen 701 will be manufactured in Austria. The above announcement also means that the Husqvarna brand will make its India debut by late 2018 or early 2018 as opposed to 2017 as reported earlier. Also read: Husqvarna India launch in January 2017 

The Husqvarna range of motorcycles will be sold via official KTM dealerships across the country which used to sell Kawasaki’s CKD bikes before the split earlier this year. The Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 and Svartpilen 401 are based on the 2017 KTM 390 Duke, but they will be positioned as a premium offering over the KTM. 

Founded in 1903, Husqvarna or popularly called as Husky, is the world’s second oldest motorcycle brand and are renowned for their motocross, supermoto and enduro bikes. The Husqvarna brand was owned by the BMW Group till 2013 before it was acquired by Pierer Industrie AG which is owned by Stefan Pierer, current CEO of KTM. In the past four years, the Husqvarna brand has witnessed a great turnaround as it sold 30,000 units in 2016, which is the company’s best ever performance. The Vitpilen 401 hints more towards urban motorcycling with its neo-retro design, while the Svartpilen 401 is more off-road biased thanks to the knobby tires, exhaust protector and bash plate. The Svartpilen also comes with a practical tank rack to keep knick-knacks. Both the bikes use superior cycle parts like inverted forks up front, monoshock at the rear and disc brakes on both ends.  Once production of the Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 and Svartpilen 401 begin in India, expect these two bikes to become a lot more affordable and sales of Husky bikes to spike considerably in the coming years. As for us, we are eager to get our hands on the Husky duo.