Piaggio planning to assemble Aprilia bikes in India

Piaggio is planning to assemble its Aprilia motorcycles in India, which are currently sold as completely-built-up (CBU) units. The Italian bike manufacturer wants to increase Aprilia’s acceptability in the Indian market by making it more affordable.

Piaggio currently sells five motorcycles in India – Mana, SRV, Dorsoduro, Tuona V4 and the RSV4. Its most affordable model, the Mana 850 ABS is priced at Rs 14.3 lakh (ex-showroom Pune) whereas the RSV4 Factory APRC ABS is the most expensive at Rs 25.8 lakh (ex-showroom Pune). These CBU units are nearly 140 per cent expensive than the assembled bikes.

Piaggio won’t be the first one to assemble its superbikes. Harley-Davidson, Triumph and Kawasaki are already following the completely-knocked-down (CKD) route. We can expect Piaggio to use the Baramati facility where it currently manufactures the Vespa range of scooters.

"We are importing Aprilia bikes as of today but moving forward we might look at a completely knocked down operation of Aprilia products from India," said Ravi Chopra, chairman and managing director, Piaggio.

"The company has showrooms in Pune and Gurgaon. It is in the process of setting up showrooms in Chandigarh, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Mumbai, too, would get an Aprilia showroom," he added.

Source: businessstandard