The two will be separate from the twelve other bikes that will be introduced in India by 2019.
Benelli India will be manufacturing, selling and providing after sales service for their bikes with their new partner Mahavir Group. The alliance is wasting no time in settling down and is already on the front-foot to increase its market share.
The strategy will see twelve new bikes from Benelli coming to India by 2019. The work on a new manufacturing plant in Telangana, near Hyderabad is already underway and it will be operational by October 2018. All the bikes will be built as knocked down units (CKD) in this factory. The first new bikes to be introduced in India will be the Benelli Leoncino 500 and the Benelli TRK 500 (both, internationally suffixed with 502). While the former is a scrambler, the latter is an adventure motorcycle.
The two bikes in total have four variants on sale internationally but India will most likely see their standard versions. Benelli might go ahead allow the buyers to choose from a range of accessories to make up for the lack of their adventure versions. Both the bikes are powered by a 499.6cc, twin-cylinder, liquid-cooled, motor that’s mated to a 6-speed gearbox. It produces 46.9 HP at 8500 RPM and 45 Nm of peak torque at 5000 RPM. The two will be coming to India by the end of 2018.
Benelli will be making an entry into the booming entry-level Indian bike market too. They will be introducing the younger brothers of the above mentioned bikes. These are the Benelli Leoncino 250 and TRK 250, (both, internationally suffixed with 251). Both the bikes are powered by a 249cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that produces a maximum power of 25.8 HP and a peak torque of 21.2 Nm. Transmission duties are handled by a 6-speed transmission. These figures are nearly the same as the Benelli TNT 25’s power figures.
The Benelli Leoncino 250 will see competition from the KTM Duke 250 while the Benelli TRK 250 will compete with the Royal Enfield Himalayan. However, both the Benelli 250s will come with a dual-channel ABS. The BMW G 310 GS can also be termed as a competition but the TRK 250 won’t be priced as high as the G 310 GS. The TRK 250 is also a bike that is made to look like an off-roader and with its 200 mm of ground clearance shouldn’t face much of a problem going on those undulating terrains. Both these entry-level Benellis will go on sale by March 2020.
Benelli is ready with an aggressive strategy to increase the number of bikes it sells in India from the current 1700 units per annum to 3000 units per annum in the coming year. It will also be increasing the number of dealerships to about 38 by 2019 and about 58 by 2020. The manufacturing plant has a capacity of 7000 units per year but can be expanded if need be. The company will also setup an R&D centre to work on its global projects as well as to take care of the local market demands.
Benelli Leoncino 250
– The Leoncino 250 and the TRK 250 will be introduced in India by March 2020
– They will be joining their elder brothers, the Leoncino 500 and TRK 500 that will be launched in India by the end of 2018
– Eight other bikes including the Benelli Imperiale 400 and 530 will go on sale in India in 2019
