Ducati India looks at 18% growth in sales

Kolkata, Sep 1 (IANS) Italian superbikes-maker Ducati India is looking to grow by at least 18 per cent in the current calendar year and plans to expand its dealer network, a company official said on Friday.

"Last year, we sold 1,000 units and our year-on-year growth was 18 per cent. We expect not only this year (calendar year) but also next one year to grow at least at the same pace," company's Managing Director Sergio Canovas told reporters here.

The premium motorcycles maker, which commenced operations in India in March 2015, has diverse product portfolio of 19 models ranging from 800cc to 1,299cc across six categories. Its price range starts from Rs 7 lakh.

The company had been importing the bikes from Thailand, with which India has a free-trade agreement and has no plan, as of now, to set up any assembling plant in India.

"... the best arrangement now is to import from Thailand. Due to the FTA, the bikes are imported at zero duty," he said on the sideline of the launch of a dealership and service facility in the city.

With dealerships already operational in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Kochi, Kolkata is a major expansion to its network in the country, he said, adding that the number of dealerships would rise to 10 in the first half of 2018.

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