Mahindra is planning to revive Peugeot Motorcycles after 70 years & revealed two new concepts named P2x Roadster and P2x Café Racer
Peugeot Motorcycles is one of the oldest Motorcycle brands in the world and the French manufacturer was founded in 1898. The first product from the company was De Dio-Bounton bike with the engine mounted on the rear wheel and the model made its debut at 1898 Paris Exhibition. The company was the leading French motorcycle manufacturer until the 1950s.
In 2014, Mahindra and Mahindra announced that they bought 51 per cent share in Peugeot Motorcycles at the cost of $16.5 million. The Indian manufacturer also owns BSA and Jawa, both these iconic manufacturers have made a come back in the two-wheeler segment. Now, Mahindra is planning to revive Peugeot Motorcycles after 70 years.
The French manufacturer revealed two new concepts named P2x Roadster and P2x Café Racer at the 2018 Paris Motor Show and it is a historic moment for the company as their first motorcycle also made its debut at the same place in 1898. Mahindra hasn’t given more details about both these concepts, but it might be based on Mojo.
The styling is completely different from Mojo as both these concepts get upside down gold finished front forks with circular LED headlamps. The company has given spoke wheels for the roadster in white colour and black alloy wheels for the Café Racer. The dimensions appear to be smaller and both concepts get muscular fuel tanks.
Peugeot has given gas charged suspension at the rear with a flat seat for the roadster. The concepts are powered by 300 cc engine from Mojo but the Mahindra Racing team has worked on the engine and the production model might get higher outputs. This engine is EURO 5 complaint and we can expect good efficiency also.
The engineers need to make some changes for the engine to meet new EURO 6 and BSVI emission norms. Mahindra is planning to make the French brand more popular around the world and they have created a mid-term plan named ‘Performance 2020’ in which the company is planning to launch multiple motorcycles to increase sales.
Costantino Sambuy, CEO of Peugeot Motorcycles said that they will be expanding on three pillars – premium scooters, electric scooters and premium motorcycles. Motorcycle makes up for half of the total sales in Europe and the company is expecting them to play a crucial role in the future.
Mahindra will invest Rs. 400 crore for the new strategy and they are expecting a break-even by 2020.