Mahindra two-wheelers announces future plans

Aside from acquiring BSA, Mahindra has also bought license to sell Jawa motorcycles in India

Mahindra has been on a brand acquiring spree in the past few years. They announced the purchase of majority stakes in SsangYong in 2010 and since then they haven’t looked back. Peugeot Scooters and more recently BSA followed the suit. At a press conference, Mahindra also announced that they now have the license to sell motorcycles under the Jawa marquee in India.

Both these brands have been acquired by Mahindra’s subsidiary Classic Legends Private Limited (CLPL). The company bought 100 percent stake in BSA including brand rights. BSA will primarily be focused to cater to the US, UK and European markets. Much to the disappointment of some, the brand will not make it to Indian shores.

While the news of the BSA acquisition came a few days back, Jawa came in as quite a surprise. Neither Mahindra nor CLPL has has bought over the Jawa brand, but they have acquired licensing rights for certain Asian markets including India. Keeping the same in mind, Jawa products will be manufactured in India while BSA will be produced at another location abroad. Both these brands will not be rebadged as Mahindra products and will continue to wear their respective emblems. Mahindra also declared that the first of the Jawa products might make its debut in two years.

While this surely was a huge move from Mahindra, the bigger shock was their implicit departure from the mass market. Mahindra has tried hard to make an impact in the segment with the Mahindra Centuro and the Gusto but it hasn’t quite worked in their favour. Mahindra officially announced that they have slashed advertising and development spends for both these products. The Pitampur-based company now wants to focus its attention and capitalise on the premium segment. This announcement comes following the warm welcome that the Mojo has received since its launch. In fact, Mahindra also said that they are working on four more iterations of the Mojo that are expected to be launched in the next two years.

The two-wheeler manufacturer didn’t leave Peugeot Scooters out of the picture either. While the products have already been launched in certain South-East Asian markets, they are still analysing the plan to bring Peugeot Scooters in India.