Jawa motorcycles launched by Anand Mahindra; price to specs, get up close and personal with historic bike

Mahindra group chairman Anand Mahindra led Classic Legends, a subsidiary of Mahindra and Mahindra, Thursday relaunched iconic Czech motorcycle brand Jawa in India, in three new models - Jawa Forty Two, Jawa and Jawa Perak. The motorcycles will be priced between Rs 1.55 lakh and Rs 1.89 lakh.

"We have found a great fit to our two-wheeler business. This a brand (Jawa) very much aligned to Mahindra's values," Mahindra said after launch.

Chairman and managing director of Rustomjee group, Boman Rustom Irani, and Phi Capital Management founder Anupam Thareja were also present at the launch. Both these companies have stakes in Classic Legends, which is 60 per cent owned by Mahindra group.

An all-new 293-cc bikes are equipped with liquid cooled, single cylinder, double overhead cam engine within a double cradle chassis. "We are excited about the new Jawa Motorcycles that we have unveiled here today," said Thareja.

The booking for the new bikes have began online from Thursday and they will be available to the customers from December 7, he said.

"We are happy to bring Jawa back in India. This seems like the right timing to have come up with this range of motorcycles, as the Indian premium motorcycle market is not only growing but also evolving in consumer tastes and preferences," said Ashish Joshi, chief executive officer, Classic Legends.

In 2016, Mahindra and Mahindra had struck a deal with the Czechoslovakia-based motorcycle company, which allowed Classic Legends to launch and market bikes under the Jawa brand name in the country and east Asian markets.

Mahindra said that the company was not looking at volumes as the newly launched bikes are not for the mass segment. "It very very premium niche segment. Our job is to live up to the Jawa heritage. We are not fixated on the volumes right now," he said.

Mahindra also said that the focus was on the domestic market at present, adding that there is good potential for exports as well.

"Some time you expand the categories which is more important. So, if I had to only eat market share, then we are saying that the segment is small. In fact, we are going to expand the market instead," said Thareja.

Moreover, it is a growing segment, he said, adding, "Volume is a function of product and distribution. We are in the process of of building both right now." The bikes are being produced at Mahindra's manufacturing facility in Pithampur near Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

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According to Thareja, the facility has a capacity to produce 0.5 million bikes annually. "Capacity is not a constraint. The listed capacity is more than half-a-million. But it is also product-dependent," he added. He said that the distribution of bikes will begin with 50 dealerships, and the company has already signed up 105 dealers across the country.