Ducati India to launch 959 Panigale on May 21; vehicle priced at Rs. 13.97 lakh

Italian motorcycle maker Ducati will officially launch the 959 Panigale in India on May 21. The motorcycle was first unveiled at the 2016 India Bike Week (IBW) and the company has revealed the price at Rs. 13.97 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The launch will take place at Gurgaon's Ducati Experience Centre, which is the world's largest Ducati dealership, NDTV Auto reported.

Ducati has opened bookings for the 959 Panigale in February for the successor of the 899 Panigale. Powering the 959 Panigale is a new 955cc, 90-degree, V-twin, Superqudro, Desmodromic, liquid-cooled engine that is tuned to churn out 157bhp of power at 10,500rpm and 107.4Nm of torque at 9,000rpm matched to a 6-speed Ducati Quick Shift gearbox.

The 959 Panigale measures 2,056mm in length, 1,115mm in height, 810mm in width and has a wheelbase of 1,431mm and a seat height of 830mm. It features Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS), full LCD instrument panel, Ducati Traction Control (DTC) and Ducati Quick Shift (DQS).

The sports bike maker forayed into India in March 2015 and it currently has dealerships in five Indian cities — Gurgaon, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru. Ducati's range of motorcycles for India include Monster family (Monster 821), the Hypermotard and Hyperstrada models of the Diavel family and the 899, 1299, 1299 S and Panigale R. Towards the end of last year, Ducati also launched the Scrambler Icon, the Scrambler Classic and Full Throttle. The prices of Ducati motorcycles in India start at Rs. 6.83 lakh to Rs. 42 lakh (ex-showroom Pune).