KTM may launch 125 Duke in India soon; a masterstroke or would it backfire?

Indian bike maker Bajaj Auto's alliance with Austrian bike maker KTM is one of the most successful bike brand collaboration after the dawn of the new century. The Duke and RC series models launched in India under 500cc category are hugely successful and it looks like the company now plans to add yet another smaller capacity Duke model.

A report in Zigwheels claims KTM will soon launch the 125 Duke in India. The website claims KTM dealers have confirmed the arrival of 125 Duke and launch can be expected by the end of 2018 or early 2019.

KTM already manufactures the 125 Duke in India solely for exports. The Euro-spec 125 Duke is much more premium and shares many features with the 390 Duke. The premium features like LED headlamps, full-colour TFT instrument cluster and other goodies will make the 125 Duke's price equivalent to the current 200 Duke that costs around Rs 1.51 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi.

Considering the 125cc bike segment in India is a commuter segment, finding takers for the 125 Duke with all these features will be tough. In that case, KTM may strip out these premium features to keep the price in check.

Another possibility is bringing the 125 Duke in its last generation avatar. The 200 Duke still uses the last generation Duke series' body and KTM may just replace the 200cc engine with 125cc keeping all the other cycle parts same. Even in that case, the 125 Duke will be significantly expensive than its rivals.

It remains to be seen what strategy will KTM take for the 125 Duke for a price sensitive market like India?

The youngest member of Duke Family is powered by a 124.7 cc engine producing 15bhp of power at 9,500rpm and a torque of 11.8Nm at 8,000rpm. The single cylinder four stroke engine is a liquid cooled unit and it comes mated six-speed transmission.