The Silicon Review ^Asia

Italian motorcycle manufacturerBenellito launchImperialein India this year; a balanced and well-thought-out move to take on Royal Enfield, The Hindu reported on Friday.

“We will be launching Imperiale 380cc to 400cc bikes either by the fourth quarter of the calendar year 2019 or the first quarter of 2020,” said Vikas Jhabakh, managing director, Benelli India. “With this, we will take on Royal Enfield in the same segment.”

The Italian superbike makerentered the Indian market recently by partnering with Adishwar Auto Ride India – Mahavir Group. The company plans to start a manufacturing unit here. “Currently, motorbikes are imported in completely knocked down condition and assembled. Going forward, we are planning to put up a manufacturing unit,” Mr.Jhabakh said.

He was in Chennai to announce the roll-out of TRK 502 and TRK 502X with 500cc engines.With the new offerings, the superbike maker offers five products, the newspaper reported.

“Having started our journey this year, we will use this year for building a brand, expanding dealership network to 40, entering more geographies and rollingout new products. Next year, we will be focussing aggressively on sale. This year, our target is to sell 1,500 superbikes and double it next year. We hope to garner 10percent market share in 2019,” he said.

Mr.Jhabakh was quoted as saying by the newspaper.