UM Motorcycles To Bring Two New Bikes This Fiscal

One of the UM Motorcycles to be launched this fiscal will be a 200cc bike, while the other will be in the 400cc category.

UM Motorcycles is going to start deliveries of its Renegade Commando and Renegade Sport S models this month, which are priced at Rs 1.59 lakh and Rs 1.49 lakh (both ex-showroom Delhi) respectively. In the initial phase, the company will deliver bikes to the first 3,000 bookings registered since their launch at the 2016 Auto Expo.

UM India director Rajeev Mishra told PTI, "We will begin delivery of 3,000 bikes (Renegade Commando and Renegade Sports) from the third week of August." Mishra also told that the company will start bookings for its third model, the Renegade Classic this year by Diwali, which was also unveiled at the Auto Expo and is priced at Rs 1.79 lakh. Apart from these 300cc cruisers, the American two-wheeler manufacturer is bringing two new models in different segments by the end of this financial year.

"We will have two more models in this financial year, one in the 200cc and the other in the 400cc category," Mishra said. There are no more details on the upcoming models apart from their engine capacity. However, the company wants to concentrate only on the cruiser segment for the next two years, which means that the upcoming models could be cruisers as well.

It seems that UM Motorcycles is planning to give a tough competition to Royal Enfield, which already has decades-old dominance in the segment. Where the Indian manufacturer is slowly upgrading its product range with better technology and reducing its drawbacks, UM is ready to offer advanced motorcycles with very competitive price tags.

The existing UM Renegade range of cruisers are powered by single-cylinder 4-valve liquid-cooled engines, which are technically far better than the RE thumpers. Moreover, these motors come mated to a 6-speed synchronous mesh gearbox with overdrive and they are also lighter than RE bikes. All these features help UM motorcycles to perform better, with a top speed of 135kmph along with a fuel economy of 32kmpl.

UM Motorcycles have a 50:50 joint venture with the India-based Lohia Auto Industries to manufacture and retail its bikes in India under the brand UM Lohia Two-Wheelers Pvt Ltd (UML). Apart from the technology, the American company has also invested Rs 100 crore in Lohia's Kashipur plant, which is now capable of rolling out 50,000 bikes per year. Currently, the company imports only 30 per cent of the components to produce these motorcycles in India but is working on 100 per cent local sourcing at the earliest.

Full localisation can further reduce the prices of these highly competitive priced motorcycles, which could result in higher demand. On this, Mishra said, "The capacity can be scaled up to 1 lakh units per annum as and when the demand picks up."

UM has already received 3,000 bookings in the first phase of registration, while the second phase is open for bookings. The company has set up 50 dealers across the country and the bikes are on display at 37 of these dealerships. The company aims to make India its single largest market worldwide in the next five years. If UML succeeds in getting the quality right and building a well-functioning retail network, it could become an important player in the Indian two-wheeler market.