“It's Chameleon Cool!” |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2010 11:18 AM PST Don't dismiss the new KTM 125 Duke as unworthy of your attention just because it's "only" a 125cc street single. Because this may actually be the most significant and important new customer motorcycle launched anywhere on planet Earth this century. Here's why. For starters, the new downsized Duke is the first fruit in terms of hard product of the link between the second-largest motorcycle manufacturers in both India and Europe since November 2007 when India's Bajaj Auto took an initial 14.5 percent stake in Austria's KTM. Since then, Bajaj has brought its shareholding in KTM up to a total of 35.67 percent by investing an additional Euro 20 million in the company. No matter how you look at it that makes the Indian company - the fourth largest two-wheeled manufacturer in the world, in terms of units built - a key influence in the future direction taken by KTM under its majority owner Cross Industries, the investment vehicle of KTM Sportmotorcycle president Stefan Pierer and his partner, Rudi Knünz. Call it east meets west. But that's not all, for the KTM 125 Duke addresses a key issue that's of concern to any biker: how to compete not only with cars but with all today's many other forms of leisure pursuit, from wakeboarding to mountain bikes, video games and entertainment to rock-climbing, in attracting the next generation of riders to the world of motorcycling - especially in mature markets like Europe, the USA, Japan and Australasia where for years the average age of bikers has been rising, just as their total number has shrunk. "In my opinion, this the biggest single challenge for today's motorcycle manufacturers, how can we direct our future products towards a younger customer?" says KTM president Pierer. "Because our average customer at KTM gets around seven months older each year, Harley's is already on the way to the retirement home, and BMW's average customer was getting on for 60. That's the reason that BMW decided as a strategic decision to purchase Husqvarna and launch the 450 enduro, and to develop the S1000RR Superbike, instead of keeping focused on their core customer's desires. And even for KTM, although we are for sure the youngest motorcycle brand in terms of image - how can we address this issue? One way is the Zero Emission segment, which is why we are working very hard on our electric-driven off-road competition bikes, which could maybe attract new, young customers. But the first and most important thing for us is the 125cc class, so let's make cool, affordable, entry-level bikes which display the brand image - and that's what we're doing in conjunction with our partners Bajaj, in creating and marketing the 125 Duke. If this also lets us expand globally by approaching emerging markets with such a bike, that's a bonus. But the main thing is to get young people on motorcycles for the first time - then we can try to keep them riding, preferably with KTM, as they progress through life and up the capacity scale." That succinctly summarizes KTM's strategy in developing the 125 Duke - but there's a key word in there: affordable. The contribution of Bajaj to this strategy can't be overestimated: KTM would engineer the 125cc entry-level motorcycle, their close allies Kiska Design in Salzburg would design it, Bajaj and KTM would jointly develop it, and Bajaj would manufacture it in its vast modern factory at Pune, southeast of Mumbai. Thanks to all that, the 125 Duke has a competitive target selling price of Euro 3500 - albeit at the high end of a sector led in terms of volume by Honda's CBF125 that retailis for around Euro 2300. The CBF is also Indian-made, but it's a low-tech air-cooled pumped-up minibike compared to the downsized full-size liquid-cooled twin-cam motorcycle that the KTM 125 Duke is. As such, it represents a typical KTM response to the commercial opportunity opened up by the new EU law introduced a year ago permitting 125cc bikes producing a maximum of 11kW to be ridden by 16-year-olds (15 in some countries), quite apart from providing a means of introducing the brand to major developing markets in Asia, Africa and South America where KTM is not yet a key player. "Our design brief was to produce a lower priced KTM made in India, which still delivered what the customer was entitled to expect from us in quality and performance," said Robert Prielinger, KTM's head of R&D for the 125 Duke project. "As such, it must still be recognizable as a KTM, which it is even if you see one without any orange paint. But at the stage we were thinking what kind of motorcycle to make, it was clear that it must be a naked bike, because the Duke and SuperDuke are part of KTM's heritage. Bajaj wanted to bring a 125cc European motorcycle with higher technology than their own products to their dealers, and since Indian customers aren't familiar with the Enduro and Supermoto, a performance Duke model badged as a KTM was ideal for them, as well as perfect for our target European customer. When you're 16 years old, appearances are everything." However, as the bike's designer Gerald Kiska explained, it was always considered vital that the 125 Duke should act as a platform for the target age group to pimp their ride by customizing and personalizing it according to their tastes - preferably via KTM's own catalog, though it's inevitable there'll be a flourishing independent aftermarket if the Duke's entry-level cool catches on. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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