At the moment, Polaris has a range of RZRs and ATVs available on sale. These products are available through India’s Polaris network but come with heavy CBU (Completely Built Unit) pricing. In an interview with BikeWale, Pankaj Dubey, Managing Director, Polaris India said that these high-end products could be locally assembledin India. Dubey said, “There’s always a chance. We are just looking at the current mass of demand before doing it. The volumes are growing so I am sure at some stage we will do it. However, I foresee that it won’t be before three more years.”
At the moment, the Polaris RZR range starts at Rs 10.95 lakh and goes up to Rs 29.20 lakh for the top of the line XP Turbo. If assembled in India, we can expect to see a significant price drop. It will go the same way for ATVs as well. Polaris does have an assembly plant at Faridabad which is already assembling a product from its most recently acquired brand Hammerhead. To put into perspective, the India-assembled Hammerhead GTS150 is priced Rs 2.90 lakh which is almost half the price of the closest entry-level Polaris product in that segment.
Dubey also said that he will be bringing many more models of the Hammerhead range through the same CKD route. This is great news for off-road enthusiasts as the products from Polaris will keep flying in at seemingly affordable prices.
Commenting on the status of the Eicher Polaris Multix which was their affordable entrant introduced last year he said, “The Multix is doing pretty fine, its currently growing into the rural market. As opposed to the Polaris products which are at the top end of the scale, the strategy on the Multix is on the reverse. It starts at the grass roots aimed towards tier four and tier five towns. We are very positive about it and hope for it to do very well in the country as it is designed specifically for India. The usability of the product is great on rough road conditions because of its independent suspension.”
On being asked whether we could see the Slingshot brand in India, Dubey said, “Right now we are focusing more on Indian Motorcycles. We currently operate between 1200-1800cc which is the top-end of the segment, which includes Victory Motorcycles. The motorcycles do have their differences but the customers they target are the same. I don’t want Slingshot to enter the market and be the third brand addressing the same target customers. However, if the market expands which is likely with the current growth, then we could look at launching Slingshot in India. I would have liked to launch it yesterday but the government regulations will be difficult to address. Slingshots are three-wheelers and are registered as motorcycles in the USA. In India, leaving aside bikes with sidecars there is no regulation for a three-wheeler motorcycle. We have put requests to the ministry if we can get the regulations cleared for Slingshot. Once sorted, it will be one of the most interesting products in India.”
