After a flattish start to FY26, the Mahindra-backed motorcycle maker is banking on product interventions, an expanded retail footprint, and brand authenticity to stand out in India’s fiercely competitive middleweight segment.
12 Aug 2025 | 3366 Views | By Darshan Nakhwa and Prerna Lidhoo
Classic Legends, the maker of Jawa, Yezdi, and BSA motorcycles, expects its sales to accelerate in the upcoming festive season after a flattish start to the financial year 2025-26, co-founder Anupam Thareja told Autocar Professional. The company is banking on a combination of fresh model introductions and a rapid ...
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Classic Legends, the maker of Jawa, Yezdi, and BSA motorcycles, expects its sales to accelerate in the upcoming festive season after a flattish start to the financial year 2025-26, co-founder Anupam Thareja told Autocar Professional. The company is banking on a combination of fresh model introductions and a rapid expansion of its dealer network to reverse a multi-year decline in volumes and register two-fold growth over last year.
“Sales have been flattish so far, but we expect a strong pick-up in the festive season,” Thareja said. The company’s Chief Business Officer Sharad Agarwal said that this is a “year of growth” for the company, with its touchpoints set to rise from 350 at present to 450 before Diwali, and aim to have 500 outlets by end of FY26. The network expansion will cover all three brands.
On Wednesday, Classic Legends launched the 2025 Yezdi Roadster starting at Rs 2.09 lakh rupees. In June the company launched an updated Yezdi Adventure. The company currently offers three models under the Yezdi brand: the Roadster, Scrambler, and Adventure--five models under the Jawa brand, and two variants under the BSA marque in India.
Since its launch in late 2018, Classic Legends has fallen short of its ambitious early target of selling 1 lakh units annually. Domestic sales over five years have totalled just over 2.2 lakh units, hampered by early quality issues, inconsistent distribution, and slow product cycles. Annual volumes have slipped from 44,000 units in FY23 to 36,680 in FY24, and further to 32,430 in FY25.
In contrast, segment leader Royal Enfield sells more than 9 lakh motorcycles a year, while newer rivals such as Triumph (via Bajaj Auto) and Harley-Davidson (via Hero MotoCorp) have expanded options for Indian buyers.
Despite this gap, Classic Legends is aiming for a doubling of sales in FY26, driven by five new model launches, covering a wider price band of ₹1.75-3.25 lakh, and deeper market penetration. “Products done. Distribution done. Price expansion done. This will give us 2x this year,” Agarwal said, adding that profitability will also improve, with the company expecting to be cash-positive for the full year.
Thareja believes the middleweight classic motorcycle space once, dominated by a single player, has now matured into a more competitive, premiumised category, reflecting India’s rising incomes and appetite for nostalgia-led products.
“Classics are back. People are looking for simpler times, for authenticity. Nostalgia is a beautiful thing, but you can’t fake it,” he said. While acknowledging that rivals have used aggressive pricing and marketing, he insisted that long-term brand building requires patience and authenticity.
At the 2025 Yezdi Roadster launch event, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra expressed confidence in the heritage brand’s revival. “Can’t manufacture authenticity overnight. It takes years to build trust. Yezdi motorcycle brand is an icon…my belief about reviving heritage brands is that it already has a heart.”
Classic Legends’ strategy includes positioning its three brands for different geographies and customer bases for example, using BSA in export markets where it retains historical equity, rather than attempting to seed a lesser-known Indian brand from scratch.
International expansion is central to the company’s plan. It has already launched BSA in the UK before India, and aims to enter seven new global markets in FY26. Thareja notes that brand heritage gives BSA a head start in markets like the US, compared to creating awareness for Yezdi or Jawa from scratch.
On trade agreements, Thareja is pragmatic: “Make 0% duty for all imports we will take that. But to succeed, brands have to build their tribe in every market; it can’t be done overnight. My view can you make a Harley Davidson in US and sell it here? They tried it for 7 years. You have to come with a Hero.”
While the industry speculates on the timing of an electric transition in motorcycles, Thareja is clear that the middleweight ICE category will remain strong for years. “Electric will be a percentage of the segment, but not the segment itself, at least for now. The infrastructure, especially for touring and classics, just isn’t there yet. Look at some of the electric motorcycle makers in India. They have also had to move to scooters. Somebody has to succeed for the infrastructure to come,” he said.
Classic Legends has already developed an electric motorcycle through a UK joint venture and may launch it in overseas markets first, where readiness is higher. “We have it ready. Whenever India is ready, we’ll bring it,” Thareja confirmed.
Thareja sums up the growth playbook simply: “Sales grow from three factors, distribution, product, and timing. You have to be there with the right product at the right time.”
With its most aggressive product pipeline yet, a sharply expanded network, and renewed focus on brand authenticity, Classic Legends now faces the challenge of translating its storied names into sustained market share and proving that its second wind can be stronger than its first.