DSK MotoWheels revs up to bring Benelli to India
Information filtering from the sidelines of the recent Intermot Motor Show which ended yesterday, is that the Pune-based DSK MotoWheels is looking to bring products from Benelli, the renowned Italian motorcycle maker, to India.
Information filtering from the sidelines of the recent Intermot Motor Show which ended yesterday, is that the Pune-based DSK MotoWheels is looking to bring products from Benelli, the renowned Italian motorcycle maker, to India.
Although attempts to gain a confirmation from DSK Motowheels did not get a respsonse, reliable sources close to this landmark deal tell us DSK is on schedule to shortly bring the Italian bikes here.
DSK-Benelli will mark the biggest two-wheeler merger of 2014 in India, coming on the heels of TVS-BMW Motorrad and the super-successful, path-leading Bajaj-KTM merger.
Benelli has been in the motorcycle business for a century, starting pre-1920 as among the oldest of all Italian bike manufacturers and has a chequered racing heritage.
Like many European motorcycle houses, Benelli has changed hands numerous times over the years, being since 2005 an established European wing of the mammoth, flourishing Wenling, China-based Qianjiang (Q.J.) corporation.
Both DSK and Benelli stand to gain from the upcoming Indian foray, with the present Benelli bike line-up including an impressive fleet of contemporary motorcycles ranging from 300cc, all the way up to 1131cc.
Benelli bikes come with cutting-edge, handsome styling the Italians are known for. Of most obvious potential in India is the Benelli BN302, a distinctively Italian flavoured, sporty looking, parallel twin, high-revving 300cc engine-powered street naked motorcycle that makes about 36bhp of power.
The trellis frame harnessed BN302 hits a sweet spot in the sporty, small capacity performance bike market where many manufacturers aim to be, KTM having already shown our market the very pinnacle of a street single bike, with the potent 390 Duke platform.
Our sources have it that DSK Motowheels is pulling out all stops, bringing in a versatile, wide sportsbike line-up with models including Benelli’s in-line, four-cylinder, 600cc, BN series bikes, the 898cc triple-cylinder ‘bug-eyed’ TNT899, and 1131cc, again in-line, three-cylinder engine-powered TNT1130R, a 155bhp plus superbike.
Watch this space for more on this unfolding story.
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