Bajaj Decides To Manufacture A New 350-CC Engine
Although, Bajaj didn’t specify about their triumph line-up, it can be estimated that, triumph would be the only company under Bajaj’s wing that would be affected at a maximum rate because almost all of their motorcycles are above the 350cc segment
Regulations and taxation policies have yet again affected the production of Bajaj triumph vehicles. After the Central government’s introduction of a new GST policy back in September, the tax percentage on vehicles which are 400CC and above has been increased from 28% to an almost humongous increase of 40%.And whereas at the same time, the tax on 350cc Vehicles had been reduced to a whopping 18%. And Bajaj Triumph in order to stabilize the market rates of it’s 400cc line-up, had cut down the price to almost 20,000 rupees in order to boost sales.
But that plan didn’t seem to stay so long, as the company (Bajaj Auto) had announced that they are in the process of developing a new 350cc Engine, which apparently would be paired for the several of the motorcycles which are already existing in the Bajaj- Triumph line-up.
The executive director of Bajaj Rakesh Sharma had confirmed that they are working along with their partner organizations (KTM and Triumph) on transforming their portfolio in order to take advantage of the lower GST prices, and stated that these products will be launched soon in the market.
Although, Bajaj didn’t specify about their triumph line-up, it can be estimated that, triumph would be the only company under Bajaj’s wing that would be affected at a maximum rate because almost all of their motorcycles are above the 350cc segment. However, when compared with the other one’s such as the KTM which is also under the wing of Bajaj Auto, Triumph will be the one that might take a harder hit.
These new range of motorcycles which are equipped with a 350cc engine are said to be released by March this year. And the interesting aspect is that, it is not going to be a new engine all together. Rather, it is said to possess the same 400cc engine that the current motorcycles are equipped with, but this so called upcoming 350cc unit will be manufactured by reducing the bore while still retaining the stroke to drastically lower the volume. That means, less torque and as we can anticipate lower power figures.
It is also going to affect the KTM in a way, as the power figures drop on the Duke- 390 , making it closer to the Duke 250.
Putting aside both of these even Bajaj’s lineup, the Bajaj’s Dominar 400 and also the NS400z are also expected to be changed, as the engine specifications are falling under the 400cc category.
The article is written by Nag Adithya, an intern at Deccan Chronicle, Secunderabad
