merican bike-maker UM and Indian partner Lohia on course for 2015 bike launches.

The next big ticket entrant in the Indian two-
wheeler market, American company UM
Motorcycles and India’s Lohia Auto Industries are
on schedule to set up shop in India and introduce
their range of new motorcycles on our shores. We
recently caught up with UML Head of Sales Joji
John, who confirmed the firms first launches will
be a 400cc, single-cylinder engine powered
motorcycle, a Cruiser or Scrambler, perhaps even
both. Pricing will be aggressive, in the ballpark
region of Rs 1.50 lakh (on-road). The 400cc
engines for the India bikes are being specifically
engineered and tuned to suit Indian conditions.
A glance at UM’s International website reveals
the manufacturer already sells numerous
competent bikes abroad, but UML does not intend
to explore the CKD or CBU routes in India, instead
adopting a long term approach with commitment
to the Indian market, manufacturing bikes at their
Kashipur unit in Uttarakhand, with a targeted
installed annual capacity of 100,000 units.
UML hopes to launch in time to catch the Indian
festive season, around Sept 2015, with a new bike
to subsequently enter our market every 6 months.
They hope to bring a second round of models to
India around the Indian Auto Expo, 2016, also
priced in the 1.20-1.50 lakh (on-road) range.
UML shall have a corporate head office in Delhi,
with regional offices to be set up in the second
half of 2015, tentatively in Mumbai, Pune,
Bengaluru or Chennai, with close to 30 sales and
service points to be set up across India by Aug
2015.