Calcutta, Sept. 3: Italian superbike Ducati has sold 1,000 units since its launch in India in March 2015. The wholly owned Indian subsidiary, Ducati India Pvt Ltd, is aiming to do 1,000 more by the end of next year.

"Our strategy is to have a robust dealer network covering all the major cities by 2018 so that we can double our sales," said Sergio Canovas, managing director, Ducati India Pvt Ltd, who inaugurated the city's first Ducati showroom recently. With the Calcutta outlet, Ducati has seven dealerships in the country.

"Our motto is to be as close to our customers as possible. A lot of our customers in Calcutta had bought their Ducatis from Delhi and Mumbai. So, to serve them better we decided to have an outlet here," said Sergio.

The company is selling the Scrambler, Monster, Hypermotard, Multistrada, Panigale and the Diavel family of Ducati bikes in India that retail from a price range of Rs 7 lakh to Rs 1.2 crore.

The most expensive Ducati brought to India is the 1299cc Superleggera which was a limited edition bike with only 500 units produced worldwide. In India, the company shipped one Superleggera on order that was bought by Vikram Oberoi of Oberoi Hotels.

While the Superleggera is not available for Indian buyers, the Panigale Final edition has the Superleggera engine that retails for Rs 59 lakh plus. "One can have a taste of the Superleggera engine, if one wants," said the India chief.

The Italian bike maker will launch the Ducati Supersport, a 957cc bike, on September 22.