VOL. 53 ISSUE 49 DECEMBER 13, 2016 P75
Husqvarna is targeting the road bike market in a big way...
"We want to become one of the top three motorcycle manufacturers in Europe and to produce more than 60,000
units. You can't simply achieve this with off-road, you need to diversify. I think we will grow to 35,000 in off-road
sales before hitting a plateau and so 25-40,000 road bikes I would say. The new 401s will not be our only road bikes.
We will increase the 701 range and in years to come to produce bigger bikes. The 401 engines will be built in India,
but the whole bike will be assembled in Austria using European parts to make it a premium product. This is why we
can't build a 125, producing a Husqvarna 125 in Europe would be very costly in a price-sensitive market, so we are
concentrating on the 401."
-Oliver Göhring,
Husqvarna's MD
A sign of things to
come—Husqvarna
is forging ahead
with massive road
bike plans.
Suzuki's fire has been reignited…
"After the financial crisis in 2008 there was a big shift of focus
within Suzuki to move more towards the smaller capacity markets in
Asia, which is partly the reason for the drop in European new mod-
els. Now, starting with the GSX-R models, our focus is on the fun of
motorcycles—run, turn and stop—which we believe is a strength
of Suzuki. We have built innovative bikes such as the Gamma,
Katana and Hayabusa in the past and in the future we will develop
a few bikes that do not sit in a series and are very unique. Expect
something innovative from us soon, our engineers are full of ideas
and the success of the MotoGP project has allowed us to rediscover
their capabilities and build their confidence."
-Toshihiro Suzuki,
President and CEO of Suzuki Motor Corporation.
The big S is coming back hard and that's only good news
for us riders, says Suzuki-san. Yes, that is his real name!
