Italian sportsbike manufacturer today launched the Brutale 800 in the Indian market, priced at Rs Rs 15.59 lakh. The company, which has nine bookings in hand, plans to start deliveries on August 7.

The inline-three naked Brutale 800 has been introduced as an SKD (semi-knocked-down) model, brought in by Motoroyale. It is understood that the SKD line assembly is only for India. The company does not have plans to use the India line for export purposes.

The new Brutale 800, which is powered by a Euro 4-complaint 109hp / 89Nm three-cylinder engine, has a top speed of 237kph; 8-level traction control is standard.

Speaking at the Brutale 800 launch in Mumbai today, Ajinkya Firodia, managing director, Motoroyale – MV Agusta India, said: “We  have been receiving enquiries for the new Brutale 800 ever since MV Agusta launched in India. The Brutale 800 undeniably has been the most anticipated bike and is a lot of fun to ride on roads as well as on the racetrack and at the same time stays true to its position of an Italian exotic. I envisage the new Brutale 800 to be MV Agusta’s highest-selling model in India.

Raffael Giusta, sales and marketing director, MV Agusta Motor Italy, added: “We wanted to condense 15  years of experience in a revolutionary motorcycle. We wanted to imprint the values of our factory.  We wanted it to be ‘true’ as the story of the MV Agusta brand, ‘driven’ as our striving for beauty and ‘passionate’ as the thirst for the perfection of every rider who chooses us. We wanted to give its performance the technology it deserved. We wanted to create the most beautiful Brutale ever. We think we have succeeded.”

MV Agusta aims to improve its profitability by focusing on margins and not solely on numbers. The company sold 8,200 units in 2015 globally and has targeted sales of 5,500-6,000 units each year in line with its motto ‘Sell Less, Sell Better’.

India is the third country after Brazil (where operations have been shut down) and Malaysia, where MV Agusta has set up assembly outside its home market. The premium bike-maker currently gets 20 percent sales from its domestic operations and the balance from overseas markets; India currently contributes around 5-6 percent in annual sales.

Bullish on India
MV Agusta, which has sold around 100 bikes in India since March 2016, is bullish on the Indian market and expects demand for superbikes to hit the 20,000 unit mark by the year 2020.

The demand for superbikes is set to grow sizeably; the current annual average is 13,000 units (bikes costing over Rs 500,000 each) being sold in the country.

With the Brutale 800, the company now has seven products available for sale through Motoroyale, barring one model.

The company, which currently has three dealers – Bangalore, Pune and Ahmedabad, plans to expand the dealer network to eight this year and an additional three to four outlets each year. New Motoroyale dealerships are to be opened in Chennai and Delhi in the next couple of months. The company is banking on a low-volume, high-exclusivity brand mantra for its growth in India.

The company plans three additional launches for the India market this year. When sales rise from current 100 to over 500 units, a CKD operation may be considered.

The F3 800 is the best-selling model for MV Agusta which also plans to bring in the Turismo Veloce soon. The next-gen F3 800, which is under development, is likely to be introduced in India soon.

(With inputs from Rishaad Mody & Nilesh Wadhwa)