A New Baby Panigale Is Coming Soon!

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis hasn’t dampened Ducati’s spirits. Apart from resuming production at its Italian factory earlier this week, the brand is now gearing up for the India launch of the Panigale V2.

Unveiled at EICMA last year, we had a chance to take the bike out for a spin in its natural habitat, the racetrack, and came back quite impressed. You can read our take here. Now, though, Ducati India has teased the bike on its social media platforms, indicating that an official launch is just around the corner. Once launched, it’ll be the Italian brand’s first BS6-compliant offering in India, and will pick up where the 959 Panigale left off.

Based on the 959, it’s powered by the same 955cc Superquadro V-twin motor which has now been updated to meet stricter emission norms. In the process, it has received an additional 5PS of power and 2Nm of torque. The final output now stands at 155PS and 104Nm, but that’s not all. There aren’t really any bad-looking Panigales out there, but the 959’s ungainly side-slung twin exhaust exits were an eyesore on an otherwise gorgeous design.

With the Pani V2, Ducati has given the bike a subtle but significant styling update, bringing it more in line with the V4’s appearance while also moving the bulk of the exhaust system into the underbelly with a neat and compact stubby side-exit. It continues to be held together by a monocoque frame, while the suspension and braking components are also the same as before. Not that it really needed an overhaul in these departments anyway.

The Panigale V2 is built at Ducati’s plant in Thailand (just like most of the Ducatis that we get in India), and since we have a free trade agreement with the nation, we can expect a rather reasonable price tag for the baby Pani. Placing it at around the Rs 15.50 lakh to Rs 16 lakh mark should make it a rather attractive proposition.