KUALA LUMPUR: DRB-HICOM Bhd’s motorcycle arm, Motosikal Dan Enjin Nasional (Modenas), is venturing into the street bike sector via a pact with India’s Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL).
The collaboration, to be initiated in stages, will include distribution and technology-transfer through the development of a dedicated assembly hub in Modenas’ plant in Gurun, Kedah.
DRB-HICOM said Modenas and BAL are also planning to penetrate the international market using the ‘Modenas’ brand in Asean and beyond.
DRB-HICOM managing director Datuk Seri Syed Faisal Albar believes the move will strengthen the brand and help it capture a larger share of the motorbike market.
“The cooperation is in line with our aspiration to strengthen the Modenas brand as a whole, by offering a wider range (of bikes) for motorcycle enthusiasts,” he said in a statement today.
Syed Faisal said the local market has been very receptive to Modenas’ joint venture with Kymco in the scooter segment, which began in Nov last year.
“Now, the company is ready to (enter) a more aggressive market, which is the street bike segment. With BAL as our partner, we now have a new segment we can cater to,” he added.
BAL is ranked as the fourth-largest three- and two-wheeler bike manufacturer in the world, and the Bajaj brand is well-known in several countries.
In its home market of India, Bajaj’s range of bikes has been well received, and it continues to cut a bigger share of the market there.
“There is no doubt that BAL has the experience and technological know-how for this segment. The Bajaj models we are looking to introduce to Malaysia in the coming months have proven themselves globally, and we believe this will be replicated in Malaysia too,” Syed Faisal added.
Bajaj motorcycles are market leaders in their respective segments across 74 countries, spanning Latin America, the Middle East, South Asia, Asean and Europe.