TI Cycles pedalling up the value chain
March 25th, 2011 - 3:43 pm ICT by IANSChennai, March 25 (IANS) Following a strategy of moving up in the bicycle value chain and marketing a product in varied price points, the city based Tube Investments of India Ltd (TI) plans to launch a battery powered cycle branded as Pedelec this May.
“We believe there is a market for bicycles at various price points. If Indians perceive a good value for their money in a product, then the demand for that item would zoom and not pedal up,” D. Raghuram, president of TI’s cycles division, told IANS.
“The Pedelec will be priced around Rs.10,000. The bike will be powered by a battery as well as pedalling power. The USP of the product is that it eases the pedalling effort so that one reaches the destination fast. It would also satisfy the macho image portrayal of adolescent boys,” Raghuram said.
TI Cycles has launched the country’s first carbon frame bicycle under the brand Montra in three variants - complete carbon bike; ally frame with carbon fork and straight handle bar; alloy frame with carbon fork and dropped handle. The bikes are priced between Rs.21,000 and Rs.60,000.
According to Raghuram, the company hopes to sell around 1,500 units of Montra next fiscal.
The company has roped in car racer Karun Chandhok as the brand ambassador for Montra range.
Several years back TI Cycles moved into higher priced cycles segment, targeting the youth and as a natural progression started offering high performance premium bicycles.
“We are into standard (price Rs.3,000 - Rs.4,500), mass premium (Rs.5,000 - Rs.10,000) and super premium (Rs.20,000 - Rs.150,000) segments. We will be closing this fiscal with a volume of around 4.15 million cycles,” said Rajesh Mani, general manager.
According to Mani, the market size of super premium segment in India is around 12,000 units.
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