Between 2022-2023, AARI (Adishwar Auto Ride India) Pvt. Ltd. introduced as many as sixteen new models under lesser known Chinese brands like Keeway, Moto Morini and Zontes - all of which were new to our market at the time. Since then the company has greatly streamlined its product portfolio.
- New launches will only happen if the products make business sense
- Smaller dealer format being considered for tier 2, tier 3 towns
This is especially true for Keeway, which now only has four products on sale, half of what it did in the recent past. AARI has also deliberately scaled back sales of Zontes bikes in India, although aftersales and service support for existing customers will not be impacted.
Vikas Jhabakh, MD, AARI elaborated, “If you remember a few years back, we had scaled up quite a lot. And in retrospect, maybe quite quickly in a very short period. I think that that realization came to us.”
“With all OEMs, we've gotten extremely picky [with what we launch]. If we don't think it's a fit for more than one reason, we are very comfortable pushing back saying, thank you, but we won't take this. Whether it is for price reasons or product [related] reasons.”
Currently, the company wants to streamline the number of offerings it has and focus only on retaining models that have cemented a business case for themselves. Case in point, the Keeway V302C has carved out a niche for itself despite commanding a steep Rs 4.49 lakh (ex-showroom, India) sticker price. Vikas claims that, for a small demographic, this 300cc cruiser with a V-Twin engine keeps generating repeat sales and this is the exact niche it wants to target.
AARI also wants to maintain a healthy relationship with its dealers and ensure they continue to generate business as well as stick around for a long time. On that topic, Vikas said, “I think a better dealer network is always beneficial for customers. You don't want to be too far away from a product. You don't want to be too far away from a service centre. Not only have we consolidated on brand and product portfolio, we've consolidated on the dealer network also, where we have 37 dealers across the country.”
In fact, the company is also exploring a new dealer format for smaller tier-2 and tier-3 towns in India. He added, “We are now exploring short store formats in tier two, tier three, [towns] where we only work for products which are priced under Rs 2.50 lakh. Do small stores and workshops, give accessibility to the market, where they don't have to go to the closest tier 1 city.”
Vishal Venugopal
Ved Janve
Azaman Chothia
