Present day roads in India are packed with modern fuel efficient Indian and Japanese motorcycles and scooters. But, years before their onslaught, Jawa/Yezdi and Royal Enfield ruled the hearts of bike enthusiasts across the country. Under the leadership of Eicher Motors, the later Royal Enfield had seen a strong revival. Now, brand Jawa, which set the pace on and off the race track in 1940s to 1980s, is now being resurrected in India by Anand Mahindra.
Mahindra & Mahindra had got the license to manufacture and sell Jawa motorcycles in the Indian sub-continent in 2016. Two years later, it is ready to win hearts and cult followers all over again.
Classic Legends, the subsidiary of M&M on Thursday unveiled three new motorcycles under the Jawa brand. Two of them, the Jawa—named so after the iconic motorcycle, and Jawa Forty Two, will go on sale soon, while the custom built Jawa Perak will be launched at a later date.
The Jawa and Jawa Forty Two have been priced at Rs 1.64 lakh and Rs 1.55 lakh, respectively, ex-showroom. Bookings for these bikes open on November 15 online at jawamotorcycles.com and deliveries will start early next year.
The Jawa Perak has been priced at Rs 1.89 lakh ex-showroom, but it will go on sale at a later unspecified date.
The Jawa motorcycle brand was born in Czechoslovakia. They were initially imported to India, but later the company Ideal Jawa started selling licensed motorcycles in the the country from the 1960s, initially under the Jawa brand and later under the Yezdi brand.
Just like the icons of the yesteryears, the Jawa motorcycles have the authentic Jawa character that balances performance, capability and quality. They have a retro styling, they are simple, rugged and classic yet sporty, and packed with modern day tech, which includes an all new 293cc liquid cooled single-cylinder BS-VI emission norms compliant engine, six-speed gearbox and front disc brakes with ABS among others.
The Perak will be powered by a 334cc liquid cooled single-cylinder engine.
“It's rare to get an opportunity to resurrect a legend. Jawa is an authentic and iconic brand that represents the desire and yearning in all of us for freedom and adventure,” said Anand Mahindra, the chairman of Mahindra Group.
The pricing of Jawa motorcycles will place them strongly in the mid-capacity segment, which has been dominated by Royal Enfield for years. The maker of the iconic Bullet and Thunderbird motorcycles will be Jawa's biggest competition in India.
The sales of Royal Enfield accelerated 23 per cent year-on-year to 820,492 units in 2017-18. Between April-October this year, sales are up 11 per cent at 505,914 units.
Jawa motorcycles enjoyed huge fan following for decades and M&M hopes that the new Jawas will not only rekindle the joy among the people who still own the older Jawa and Yezdi motorcycles, but also attract the younger generation of bike enthusiasts, who have fuelled a strong demand for premium motorcycles.
“This seems like a right timing to have come up with the range of motorcycles, as the Indian premium motorcycle market is not only growing but also evolving in consumer tastes and preferences. We are quite upbeat to offer these classics to the motorcycle enthusiasts,” said Ashish Joshi, CEO, Classic Legends.
The company is quite aggressive about its plans and has already signed up 105 dealers across the country; 64 of those dealers are currently undergoing fit-outs and will start getting operational from December.
The motorcycles will be manufactured at Mahindra's plant in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh. Officials, wouldn't divulge details on capacity, but say it will not be a problem. Also, there are no plans to export the bikes for now.
“Right now we are going to focus on India. We have enough to cover here. In terms of capacity available, I don't think that's a constraint. We have enough capacity,” said Anupam Thareja, founder of Classic Legends.
