The KTM Duke 200 has been a great success in India and KTM is looking towards India as one of their most important potential markets. The Austrian bike maker will be launching the KTM Duke 390 by mid-2013 in India and that will bring higher end biking on a budget. But KTM is looking to venture into an all-new segment in India, the 180cc bike segment.
The Duke 180 will be positioned below the Duke 200 in terms of pricing and performance. The bike will get an all-new engine which is currently under development. Earlier there were speculations about the bike getting the Pular 180’s mill but that would not be happening. The Duke 180 will come devoid of fuel-injection to keep a tab on the pricing of the bike.
It may also come without the electrical instrument cluster of the Duke 200 and might adopt an analogue or analogue cum digital instrument cluster. Stripping down of all these features will help KTM price the bike quite aggressively and it might get a price of sub Rs.90,000. Also, the technology used in the Duke 180 will be expected to trickle down to the Pulsar 180.
The Duke 180 will surely share a lot of body parts with the Duke 200 to keep the costs on the lower side. The Duke 180 will offer the customers a relief from the Pulsar’s and Apache’s. It will look costlier than the price tag it will command, will perform better than its counterparts and as a result will be the bike that further helps KTM have a stronger grip over the Indian market.
(Note – KTM Duke 200 images used as an illustration, but we expect the actual bike to look much like the model seen here.)
Also see – KTM plans to launch a cut price motorcycle for India
Source – BikeToq
