Suzuki’s Gixxer 250 series and Renault’s Triber have helped them in posting good sales numbers over the last few months
Despite the sales slowdown hampering the automotive industry’s progress, some manufacturers including the debutants have proved that new launches can make a big difference. This has been true with Suzuki and Renault as they have entered new segments with a positive response from customers. In Suzuki’s case, the Burgman Street 125 and Gixxer 250 series has worked wonders.
The premium scooter went on sale in July 2018 and it has accompanied Access 125 in garnering good volume sales. The flagship scooter derives design inspiration from its bigger siblings sold globally as the maxi-scooter gets a big front apron with a tall windscreen, angular LED headlight, stepped up seat and sporty body panels. It is now priced at around Rs. 72,000 (ex-showroom).
Sharing underpinnings with the Access 125, the Burgman uses a 125 cc single-cylinder engine making around 8.7 bhp at 6,500 rpm and 10.2 Nm of peak torque at 5,000 rpm. Suzuki’s entry into the quarter-litre motorcycle space was eagerly awaited and the brand did deliver on its promises with the launch of Gixxer 250 and SF 250. Both are powered by the 249 cc four-stroke, single-cylinder, SOHC engine.
The fuel-injected unit kicks out 26 bhp at 9,000 rpm and 22.6 Nm of peak torque at 7,000 rpm and is connected to a six-speed transmission. The naked Gixxer 250 is priced at around Rs. 1.60 lakh while the SF 250 costs in the vicinity of Rs. 1.70 lakh (both, ex-showroom). Although the volumes are not high in the 250 cc space, they are performing decently to the segment’s capability.
The company recorded a total of 60,855 units in November 2019 with 14.7 per cent YoY sales growth. Just as Suzuki, Renault India has also been posting impressive growth in recent months. The French automaker registered a total of 10,882 units last month as against 6,134 units during the same month in 2018 with Year-on-Year sales increase of 77 per cent. This was primarily due to the recently launched Triber modular vehicle with different seating arrangements.
Offered in four variants namely RXE, RXL, RXT and RXZ, the Triber derives power from a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine making 72 PS and 96 Nm of torque, and is mated to a five-speed manual transmission. In the five-seater configuration, it boasts a massive 625-litre boot space and it drops to 320 litres as a six-seater and 84 litres in the seven-seater layout.