Established in 1911, Benelli is one of the oldest automotive titles to emerge out of Italy.Run by six brothers, the youngest of whom brought it into racing too, survived both World Wars. The company went under, just during the start of 2000 before being revived by some private investors.
And now, DSK MotoWheels announced that it will bring the Italian bike marquee Benelli into India two-wheeler market. DSK will bring in five motorcycles from Benelli’s international portfolio. The five bikes that will make their way to our shores include the TNT 302, TNT 600 GT, TNT 600 i, TNT 899, TNT 1130R.
Benelli plans to locally assemble the bikes and for this purpose the CKD plant of DSK MotoWheels. By assembling the bikes in India, Benelli will be able to price their bikes aggressively. The Italian two-wheeler manufacturer also plans to setup 20 dealerships in our country with the help of DSK MotoWheels will help them. The first eight of the Benelli exclusive showrooms will be inaugurated in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Chandigarh and Kolkata within the next four months while other cities would follow soon. Benelli also added that it plans to introduce small displacement, faired and naked motorcycles in near future which mostly include the entry level 150cc offering, the C150 and the quarter-litre motorcycle C250.
Benelli currently sells around 30,000 bikes globally, which is a small number, but company director Frank Zhuang said the plan is to grow, which is why they have come to India. “We are here for the long run,” he said. “We have the right products, right partner and we are here at the right time.”