Hyosung maker weighs commuter bikes

After launching premium (Hyosung) bikes in India, South Korea-based — S&T Motors — plans to get into the commuter segment and enhance its partnership with DSK Motowheels. The company sees India as one of its major markets in the next five years. Jimmy Park, managing director of S&T Motors spoke with Yuga Chaudhari. Excerpts from the interview:

You have been talking about getting into the 125cc and 150cc market in India. What are the plans?
We already have 125cc engine. It is not so difficult to come out with 150cc or 180cc, depending on the requirement. We have to discuss more in detail for commuter market, how much volume it will make, the design, how to make it and how cheap it should be and stuff like that. We have to still look at it.

Have you explored a joint venture with DSK ?
Yes, we will look at the option. We are open to every possibility. But right now, it is not the time to discuss JV. It’s too early. As of now we have launched couple of models and want to see how they do and then we will move to the next step.

What made you partner with DSK after your break-up with Garware?
I did not want to choose any professional motorcycle manufacturing company in India. Once you sell a lot of products in the beginning and don’t continue doing so, you will soon disappear. We don’t want to make same mistake which we made with Kinetic, which is why we chose Garware because they were new, they had new ideas and were ready. Garware Motors transferred everything to DSK. With DSK, I feel like working with the same company. DSK knows how to deal with dealers.

What are your investment plans in India?
This year we don’t have any plan. Next year we might look at it.

What is the investment from S&T in India?
Currently, we are not funding anything. We are investing our technology, our ideas - it is more valuable.

What is the kind of contribution you expect out of India?
India will be a bigger market, probably number one in the next five years.

Where are your majority sales coming from?
The majority of our sales come from developed countries like Germany, Australia and the US.

What will be focus on the commuter segment as you have presence in motorcycle as well as scooters?
We want to focus on motorcycles as of now and not scooters.