Bangalore , Nov. 20

AFTER Aquila, it will be the 250 cc Comet, the stylish looking sports bike from the stable of Hyosung, to make heads turn and Kinetic is negotiating with the South Korean company to bring it into the country.

"We are considering the possibility of launching Comet, the 250 cc sports bike from Hyosung," a Kinetic Engineering official told Business Line.

The sports bike is expected to be launched as early as next year.

The price tag will be around Rs 1.5 lakh, around the same as that of Aquila. The official said the duties will more than double the price of Comet and hence will remain out of the reach of most customers.

Popularly known as the naked bike, the V2 150 cc four-stroke sports bike weighs over 150 kg and is available in red and black. It has a fuel capacity of around 17 litres.

The official said initially 100 of these bikes could be imported, though the numbers has not been firmed up yet.

The company found a huge demand for the 250 cc Aquila, the cruiser bike from Hyosung in the country. It sold all the 200 vehicles it imported from the South Korean company.

Kinetic recently launched four new bikes in the market. These include, the 115 cc Boss, positioned in the high volume economy segment, 115 cc Velocity, the deluxe commuter segment bike and GF 170 and GF Laser 170 cc, both positioned as sports bike.

The 115 cc Velocity is expected to account for over one lakh units of total sales in 2004-05, which is projected to be around two lakh units. The Boss has been priced Rs 33,500, Velocity Rs 40,000, GF 170 around Rs 46,000 and GF Laser is priced around Rs 50,500.

Kinetic had invested around Rs 60 crore in its plant to manufacture new motorcycles including the GF series. It expects to achieve a sales target of around one-lakh motorcycles during 2003-04.

During 2002-03, Kinetic recorded a 29.4 per cent growth by selling 55,120 motorcycles.

In October, the Kinetic group consisting of Kinetic Engineering and Kinetic Motor Company, sold 24,573 two-wheelers which was over 50 per cent higher than September, 2003. This includes 14,284 units sold by motorcycle and moped-maker Kinetic Engineering and 10,280 units by automatic scooter-maker Kinetic Motor Company.

The sale of `Velocity' touched 7,000 units within six weeks of its launch, while the `Zing' has claimed 25 per cent market share in the first year.

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