Mumbai, Jan 13 (PTI) Mahindra Group-backed leisure bike maker Classic Legends, which revived the Yezdi brand of motorcycles after a gap of more than 26 years with the launch of three new bike models on Thursday, has said the offerings will not only expand the market but also create a segment within the segment.
The re-launch of Yezdi at an investment of Rs 500 crore, together with the Jawa brand that was re-launched in 2018, completes the portfolio of Classic Legends, said the company’s co-founder Anupam Thareja.
In 2016, M&M had struck a deal with the bike maker, which allowed Classic Legends to launch and market bikes under the Jawa brand name in the country and East Asian markets.
While Mahindra has a 60 per cent stake in the company, the remaining 40 per cent is held by Classic Legends founder Anupam Thareja and Rustomjee Group Chairman and MD Boman Irani.
“We launched three products – Jawa, Jawa Forty Two and Perak – under the Jawa brand and have now introduced three models under Yezdi — Roaster, Scrambler and Adventure range. With this, we expect it to be not only a large brand but together, it will complete the portfolio of Classic Legends,” Thareja told PTI.
All the three Yezdi motorcycles are powered by a liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, DOHC single-cylinder engine displacing 334-cc but tuned differently and are priced between Rs 1.98 lakh and Rs 2.09 lakh.
Classic Legends has invested Rs 500 crore in reviving the brand, including investment in design, R&D, industrialisation, tooling and in its launch, he said.
The bikes are being produced at the company’s Pithampur facility in Indore, which manufactures the Jawa brand of bikes also. The company has a capacity to produce half a million vehicles per annum.
Yezdi is being positioned as much more youthful, fun-loving, wild, compared to Jawa, which is for understated classy young adult but who is a bit mature and responsible, he said. “Yezdi is a motorcycle from an era when the motorcycle was not just a vehicle but part of the family. We expect it to be an instant hit with the youth of the country.” India is the largest motorcycle market. Yet, 98 per cent of this is a small engine capacity market, which is expected to gravitate up towards the mid-market segment, he said.
Noting that the market is also a combination of both engine power and pricing, he said the mid-market segment lies in 250cc-600cc, Thareja said a new layer of customers will now have to be added.
This customer is the one who is not a novice, who knows what is a motorcycle and what is a good quality motorcycle. He will just not compromise. This segment earlier did not have the choice but now for the first time, he will see a choice and understand what a brand stands for, Thareja stated.
“To my mind, this is a credible offering and will do two things — it will expand the market and also create a segment within the segment. Moreover, when you own a segment, it is your responsibility to expand it as well,” he said.
“I will create a subsegment. There is always a segment in the market but then what we have to see is whether there is a market in the segment? Now, we are creating a market in a segment,” Thareja said.
He said that in the past 15-20 years, a new bike will mean bigger bike, higher engine capacity and price more cylinders.
Thareja added that Classic Legends is taking the world back to the reason motorcycles became famous for — which is freedom, love for riding and enjoying it, he said.
“That is why we are saying that the big market segment will be the most promising segment and the segmentation of the segment will decide winners and the losers,” said Thareja.
Thareja said that at the time of Jawa launch, the company not only rolled out a motorcycle but also set up dealerships, supply chain and the factory, Yezdi has been introduced when everything is already in place.
“For Yezdi, we have corrected all the issues. We have a 300 dealership strong network, we have saved inventory for semiconductors, we have a second source supplier,” he said.
He said the sales can only be increased either by changing prices or adding products or expanding the distribution network and Classic Legends is doing all that.
“We have changed the price point, expanded the distribution three times, from 100 at the time of Jawa launch to 300 now and introduced new products,” he added.
“We will also launch accessories for bikers, bikes and performance. We will also create communities,” Thareja said. PTI IAS HRS hrs
