180 or 190 is pointless. While the world lives with over-engineered 50cc, built-to-regulations 125cc and commuter 250cc bikes, India has always been about frugal 100cc bikes, then executive commuter 125cc bikes and 150cc bikes that assume roles from commuter to tourer to offroader to racer.

What would work for India would be using the Duke 125 block and developing a 150cc on similar lines making say 18 horses with 14 NM of torque and maybe launch it as an offroader. It can come with those expensive features that make real sense, like FI (would be very useful for those taking the bike on Leh trips). Such a bike wouldn't have any competition anway (save the commuter Impulse) so it can sit in the market without worrying about cannibalizing on other bikes from Bajaj/KTM.

Finally KTM 180 cc is coming, Afterwards Bajaj will Launch a Pulsar 180 NS(Discontinuing current 180) using that Engine..not a bad move I say...

KTM Reconfirms “Faired” and “Travel” Duke 390 Models

In case everybody conveniently missed it(like I did), Stefan Pierer also said the following in this exact same interview.

Well, I didn't miss it, But it seemed normal for me considering the fact that there have been talks that the P390 will be a Mighty Muscular Faired bike as well.

Instead of coming out with 180/190 it would have been good if they come out with D280/290 as there is lot of gap between D200 and D390.

D180 is too close to D200 and it might dilute it or can cannibalize P200NS. Both ways it will hurt the alliance unless D180 is launched as pure off roader to give competition to Impluse.

pure off-roader or may be on-off roader....hmmnn, nice, may be it will be good.

Europe's KTM counts on Bajaj JV; CEO Stefan Pierer wants to grow business in emerging

My expectation of KTM launching D280/290 seems to be coming true. . Check following response from KTM CEO who talks about the new platform for Duke which will start from 270 cc and will go all the way till 390 cc. So when we talk about a platform definetly there shall be more than one engine with varying CC.

Added to that he also talks about Enduro range of bikes to come out starting from 125 CC. So expect all the current Duke engine variants to power the Enduro series of bikes.

So soon (2/3 yrs) expect KTM to be present in Touring, Naked, Faired segments of lower displacement bikes, that is 125 cc to 400 cc.

Source : ET

At 56, Stefan Pierer still likes riding his Enduro 350 cc on his favourite tarmac, which is off the beaten path, or offroading, as enthusiasts of such cross-country riding call it. He also finds time to attend 15 to 20 such races through the year.

These days, however, the sights of the CEO of KTM, Europe's second-largest motorbike maker, are trained firmly on the road - particularly those of emerging markets like India.

With good reason. Pierer's goal is to make KTM Europe's No 1 bike maker, a position currently occupied by BMW. The German automaker is headed for sales of roughly 105,000 units in 2012; KTM is expected to come within striking distance with 100,000 units, up from 83,000 in the previous year.

Of those 100,000 units, 40,000 are expected to be on-road bikes. Half of those on-roaders will be made in the factories of domestic partner Bajaj Auto, which is the second largest shareholder in KTM with a 47.27% stake.

Pierer along with Rudolf Knuenz holds a controlling stake through a holding company. Four years ago, in the wake of the global credit crisis, Pierer realised that his Indian partner could well be key to KTM's survival as sales dropped by almost 30%.

"We needed a strong back-up. And Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto, proved to be a great support. He told us not to worry and that Bajaj will stick by KTM," says Pierer, who was in India a few days ago to attend a quarterly board meeting of the joint venture (one of the four quarterly meetings is held in India).

A decade ago, KTM decided to go beyond its off-roading niche and become a more volumes-driven automaker with on-road bikes. The only way to that was to partner with a maker of bikes with lowerdisplacement engines - KTM bikes typically are in the engine range of 690 cc to 1190 cc. Enter Bajaj Auto in November 2007.

"We have found a good base and a good relationship in Bajaj . We have developed common engine platforms that both brands can use. This has allowed us to enter new market segments of smaller displacement bikes," says Pierer.

"With Honda coming in strongly in India, Bajaj Auto can use all our high-end technology to take on the Japanese," he adds. The smaller-displacement engines sit on two platforms - one for bikes in the 125 to 200 cc range; and the other for engines between 270 and 390 cc.

The 125 cc and 200 cc models have been launched; by the middle of next year, the others will follow. All these bikes are branded Duke. After these bikes, KTM will launch the Enduro based on components common to the two partners; the Enduro starts at 125 cc and goes up to 690 cc.

To be sure, Bajaj is key to KTM's growth plans. In five years, Pierer wants to double volumes to 200,000 units, half of them coming out of the JV with Bajaj. Bajaj explains that the need was to find a partner with the same imagery and the best technology.

"The association with KTM has helped the Pulsar (a bike that stands for power and style) to connect with one of the best technologies in the world. Since the basic platform has a lot of commonalities and when KTM volumes get combined with Pulsar volumes, there are huge cost efficiencies," says the MD. Although Bajaj Auto had discussions with Ducati and Triumph for possible partnerships, it was KTM that had objectives similar to those of Bajaj Auto.

"There was a lot of openness and an eagerness to `watch each other's back' whatever happens. What is good for Bajaj Auto is good for KTM," adds Bajaj. KTM's growth, however, may come at a cost and dilute KTM's equity in the off-road segment - a niche in which it has built a loyal, close-knit community. Says Pradeep Saxena, head of automotive research, TNS India: "The joint development of low-displacement bikes with KTM could dilute the brand in Europe.

However, in India KTM is not all that well-known so the company has the flexibility to grow the way they want to." Pierer, for his part, is confident that the growth "will not hurt our image as a premium bike maker as we will be still sporty with a better design."

Interesting! I wonder when they'll start to introduce bigger bikes than the 390

When KTM is planning to come out with D180 with lower price what will happen to P180? I think its the next model in Pulsar line up to get axed as D180 and P180 might be competing against each other.

D180 will be competing with P200,not P180 in price segment..

PS - I don't find any need of D180/190 when D200 & P200 is here at different price points..

exactly, there is no need of a Duke180, unless this Duke180 is a fully faired sports bike to compete with R15 and beating it on power, pick-up, torque, top-speed, handling and all fronts and undercutting its price tag bye 15-20,000 rupees.