[Axe77]

Hope this price cut means a better price for its other siblings (390A and RC) straight from launch itself. This 400 cc sector is clearly getting more and more competitive. First the entry Triumph 400 and now this.

All in all good for the end customer I guess.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Hope this price cut means a better price for its other siblings (390A and RC) straight from launch itself.

A great price for the 390 Adventure at launch was the first hint towards this repositioning of the 390 Duke

Originally Posted by FlankerFury

Test mules of the updated RC have been out for a while now. That whole bankruptcy thing means the ADV would've been prioritised since that category sells a lot more than small capacity supersports.

RC will be scheduled for EICMA later this year. Duke comes first year, Adventure next and RC third - one launch from the platform each year.

In fact the current generation RC 390 is only into its third year now

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

A great price for the 390 Adventure at launch was the first hint towards this repositioning of the 390 Duke

Indeed. Just got to hear (hadn’t been tracking the price announcement) that the 2025 standard 390A with spoked tubeless wheels will be around 4.4L on road in MH. That’s a great price proposition for sure.

[neil.jericho]

Is the price cut a result of
1. The competition? The Tuono 457 is right around the corner and Yamaha has cut prices of the MT03 and the R3.
2. The impending arrival of the KTM Adventure 390?
3. A long, hard look at their sales numbers over the last few quarters? If we look at the dispatches for H2 2024, the numbers of the Duke 390 (I'm guessing the Adv 390 is also clubbed under this) are abysmal for what is a very competent product.
July - 593
August - 711
September - 695
October - 513
November - 290
December - 201

Here in Bangalore, one hardly sees new Duke 390s on the road. I dont know if this ~ 5% price cut is going to make a big difference in their sales numbers but it certainly wont hurt their chances!

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Is the price cut a result of
1. The competition? The Tuono 457 is right around the corner and Yamaha has cut prices of the MT03 and the R3.

The competition is coming from their own stable and Bajaj's joint ventures. The sales have shifted to the 200 and 250 due to much more accessible price points. The other biggest factor was the Speed 400 and Scrambler 400 pricing. Basically Bajaj shot themselves in the foot. And with the arrival of the ADV X, the Duke is going to have a hard time selling.

Plus if you notice the trend across the brands, you can see that true sports nakeds are generally having a bad time. Indians are preferring the more softer, neo retro and retro bikes in the 300+ category. And then there is the onslaught of Indian road friendly ADVs. None of the 300-400cc sports nakeds are in a good position sheer numbers wise (Pulsar 400 is the only anomaly and that's due to the pricing). The new price tag will certainly give a potential cross-shopper something to think about.

[BullettuPaandi]

Originally Posted by b16h22

The competition is coming from their own stable and Bajaj's joint ventures.

I also think more buyers are probably cross-shopping with the 650 Twins from RE.

2.95L ex-showroom is still about 3.5L on-road, which is only about 10-60k from an Interceptor or Continental depending on the colour. This won't be a significant difference in, say a 5 year EMI.

The 'explosive performance' that the Duke/RC offers appears to be less relevant when opposed to Twin cylinders, from the eyes of a typical Indian customer. Even KTM reportedly wanted to develop Twin 490s for this segment. But the pandemic and other factors have severely slowed them down.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by b16h22

The competition is coming from their own stable and Bajaj's joint ventures. The sales have shifted to the 200 and 250 due to much more accessible price points. The other biggest factor was the Speed 400 and Scrambler 400 pricing. Basically Bajaj shot themselves in the foot. And with the arrival of the ADV X, the Duke is going to have a hard time selling.

Plus if you notice the trend across the brands, you can see that true sports nakeds are generally having a bad time. Indians are preferring the more softer, neo retro and retro bikes in the 300+ category. And then there is the onslaught of Indian road friendly ADVs. None of the 300-400cc sports nakeds are in a good position sheer numbers wise (Pulsar 400 is the only anomaly and that's due to the pricing). The new price tag will certainly give a potential cross-shopper something to think about.

I actually think that Bajaj has bungled the pricing strategy of the Triumph Speed 400 and Scrambler 400X from the beginning. Initially they said the first 10,000 customers get the discount of Rs 10,000. Then, when they had trouble meeting those targets, they extended the duration of the discount irrespective of when you booked it. Now, within 5 months of launching the Speed T4, Bajaj has dropped its price by 18,000 ( ~ 8%). Talk about damaging your own brands...

On the Pulsar NS400Z, I think the bloom is already off the rose. I suspect that by the middle of this year, dispatches of the NS400Z will be in line with the Dominar 400, which is in the hundreds. Also, lets not forget that there was a time when Rajiv Bajaj believed that the Dominar 400 would do at least 10,000 units a month! So, Bajaj is no stranger to misreading the premium end of the market.

Back to the Duke 390, as I mentioned earlier, it is a really competent product that probably deserves to sell more than what it currently does. I believe the Adv 390 and Duke 390 dispatches get clubbed together, so I dont know if we will ever get to see how much of an impact the 5% price correction actually had, over a period of time.

[bharath79]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Then, when they had trouble meeting those targets, they extended the duration of the discount irrespective of when you booked it. Now, within 5 months of launching the Speed T4, Bajaj has dropped its price by 18,000 ( ~ 8%). Talk about damaging your own brands...

This is confusing because we, on the one hand, complain that the prices are out of our reach and then when the reverse happens and you get a Triumph at that price the argument changes.

Maybe we should just be happy and leave it at that!

Regards
Bharath

[gops619]

I would still say another price slash in few months not impossible, even for the Duke 250 and 200. Further, the colors available for Duke 390 are least attractive, new black color would've helped but it's all about stock clearance now. Truly tough days for KTM these, unless big discounts, can't see them selling big.

[Senotrius]

An easier option, (for KTM) to justify even lower prices, would be to release a Duke 390 'X' version.

[BullettuPaandi]

Originally Posted by bharath79

This is confusing because we, on the one hand, complain that the prices are out of our reach and then when the reverse happens and you get a Triumph at that price the argument changes.

Maybe we should just be happy and leave it at that!

Regards
Bharath

I don't think neil.jericho meant that they should not have reduced the price. It is just that, from the eyes of the general customers, such acts would appear as 'cheap tricks'. It just doesn't bode well, for the brand perception and resale value conscious.

There are numerous examples in our market- both Motorcycles and Cars- where the OEMs seem to have took premiumisation to mean 'being pretentious', launch at higher price, only to slowly crawl back to a more fair one via discounts.

Early adopter pricing, when used right, could be a neat way for say a start-up to get the ball rolling with a relatively niche product. But this was never going to be the case for Triumph with the 400s, and companies operating at such calibre like Triumph or Bajaj, of course are aware of that. They clearly just tried to get away with something that they really couldn't.

In the long run, such 'cheap tricks' won't be beneficial. People who are now a Triumph customer, can just as easily be someone else's. There are far more companies that have been successful with beginning with a fair- sometimes even competitive- price, then incrementing, than there are companies that are, let's call it 'squirrel-y' with pricing.

So, most buyers prefer a fair/competitive price at launch to discounts later, that probably would add more to depreciation.

[bharath79]

This is something that happens all the time in our market. In telecom there was a disruption around the middle of the last decade and suddenly you realize you are getting more for much less. I pay 1100 for 5 connections that costed close to 2k earlier.

The evolution in our 3-5 lakh market is painstakingly slow. There is not one competitor to RE offering a multi cylinder. I am probably not willing to spend 7-9 lakhs either. I think I am starved and so any such price cutting action is something to cheer for.

Regards
Bharath

[tedha_ant]

Originally Posted by sole_rider

Baby Huskys in India didn’t get the lean-sensitive (IMU-based) tech when they were launched, but the export models do. The website doesn’t mention that the lean-sensitive tech is IMU-based—it’s just a cheap tactic by top management. I believe the competition will help bring them back to their senses. I know several people who bought the 390 Duke just because it had the full electronics suite, even though they didn't like the styling. People should have choices.

So the hardware is missing or is that it is turned off via software?

[sole_rider]

Originally Posted by tedha_ant

So the hardware is missing or is that it is turned off via software?

The Indian version don't have the hardware I reckon.