Kawasaki Ninja 300 To Be Heavily Localised In India?

There are rumours floating around the web that a heavily localised Ninja 300 is in the works, and it might feature dual-channel ABS to comply with the new safety norms in the country

Kawasaki’s entry-level faired motorcycle, the Ninja 300, has been in the market for quite a long time now. However, its premium pricing of Rs 3.6 lakh (ex-showroom) kept the motorcycle away from many enthusiasts in the country. Recently, the Japanese bikemaker introduced ‘Monsoon Offer’ on the 2017 Ninja 300, where the company offered a massive cash discount of Rs 41,000!

Making things even more tempting, now there is word that the Ninja 300 may be localised to a large extent in a bid to make the motorcycle even more competitive in its segment. This space is currently contested by the KTM RC 390 (Rs 2.37 lakh), TVS Apache RR 310 (Rs 2.23 lakh), Benelli 302R (Rs 3.62 lakh) and Yamaha YZF-R3 (3.48 lakh, all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

At present, the Ninja 300 is offered as a Completely Knocked Down (CKD) unit from Thailand, which is the reason why the bike is priced at a premium. If Kawasaki does start localising a majority of the components, we believe it will bring the cost down by around Rs 1 lakh-1.3 lakh over the CKD bike. This would make the motorcycle an even sweeter proposition, especially considering that it would be the cheapest twin-cylinder 300cc motorcycle in the country. Its 296cc, liquid-cooled parallel-twin motor paired with the 6-speed transmission churns out 39PS at 11,000rpm and 27Nm at 10,000rpm.

Currently, Kawasaki sells the 2017 Ninja 300 in USA with ABS as an option, while the Indian market gets the non-ABS variant only. The possible inclusion of dual-channel ABS will not only sweeten the deal but will also make the motorcycle much safer, considering the performance it offers.

If we are to go by the rumours, the localised bike is expected to be launched by the end of this calendar year. However, all these developments stay as rumours at this point as there is not official confirmation from India Kawasaki Motors. Watch this space for more updates.

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