Rakesh Kumar, zonal head (north and east) of Suzuki Motorcycle India, in Calcutta on Wednesday. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury

Calcutta, Feb. 18: Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd today said it was exploring opportunities to roll out a mid-segment bike — between 100cc and 125cc — in the next financial year.

“We are planning a bike in between the 100cc and 125cc models. The segment holds huge opportunities and is yet to be tapped properly,” Rakesh Kumar, zonal head (north and east) of the company, said.

Suzuki may also launch a scooter, depending on growth and demand, Kumar said. It plans to increase production to 4 lakh units per annum in the next 2-3 years from 1.75 lakh units now, manager (marketing) Anu Anamika said.

The company launched the GS 150R premium bike in Calcutta today. The bike is priced at Rs 60,260, ex-showroom.

Initially, Suzuki hopes to sell around 5,000 units of the GS 150R a month, which will help it capture a 10 per cent market share in the 150cc segment.

So far, the company has launched two bikes — Heat and Zeus — and gearless scooter Access in the 125cc segment. About 70 per cent of its sales come from Access.

Sales target

Suzuki hopes to sell 1.75 lakh vehicles by the end of this fiscal, utilising the full capacity of its plant. Last year, it sold 1.1 lakh units.

It will invest about Rs 150 crore over the next three years to expand capacity. Within six months, the capacity will be increased to 2.5 lakh units and to 4 lakh units by the end of the third year. The production of Access will be doubled to 16,000 units a month to meet its huge demand.

Customers have to wait for three months to get the scooter. It has tied up with Allahabad Bank to offer finance. Last month, it signed a similar agreement with Corporation Bank.