The high-end Italian superbike brand has returned to Indian shores with major expansion plans Benelli has teamed up with a new partner, namely the Mahavir Group who will have exclusive rights to retail the powerful two-wheelers bikes in India. Prior to this, the Italian powerhouse had a tie-up with the DSK Group which, unfortunately, had to be wound down after the latter ran into financial trouble. Having said that, the brand has always been keen on the Indian market as the growth potential is immense and this time around they are looking at being more aggressive about their approach.
To start with, their partnership with Adishwar Auto Ride India (aka Mahavir Group) also includes setting up an assembly plant in Hyderabad. This will help the company cater to the regional demand and also help keep costs competitive. Benelli India currently has 15 dealers in the country and they are looking at expanding that to 25 dealers by March 2019. Currently, they are offering the Benelli TNT 300, 302R and TNT 600i which have been introduced at Rs 3,50,000, Rs 3,70,000 and Rs 6,20,000 respectively.
All these bikes are offered with a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty as standard, making them the first premium bike brand to do so. The company has plans on introducing a slew of new models over the next few months, which includes the TRK 502 tourer and TRK 502X adventure models.
Benelli is also addressing the service needs of new and existing customers by offering an increased service interval for their bikes. The 4,000 km/four-months interval has been revised to 6,000 km/six-months, which is expected to reduce service costs by up to 34 per cent.
Some tidbits
The high-end Italian superbike brand has returned to Indian shores with major expansion plans. Currently, they are offering the Benelli TNT 300, 302R and TNT 600i which have been introduced at Rs 3, 50,000, Rs 3,70,000 and Rs 6,20,000 respectively.