Yezdi Is Ready to Challenge Royal Enfield With Two New Launches

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Royal Enfield, the oldest motorcycle brand in the world is on an upward surge for the past decade or so. With the launch of Interceptor 650, its fate has taken a turn for the better. Now, it occupies more than 90% of the market share in the above 350cc category. Its sales are so staggering that every other company is scrambling to get a share of that. Bajaj tries it with Dominar 400, Honda with CB 350 and Hero has given up already. There is however a new (or rather very old) contender in this category.

Jawa rose from its decade long hibernation with the Jawa 42 and Classic. With retro styling and best in class power, these motorcycles are doing quite well despite some quality issues. Now that Jawa has developed a 293cc and a 343cc engine, they want to emulate Royal Enfield and snatch some of that market share from them.

Royal Enfield announced that they would be launching 20 motorcycles in the next 5 years. This sounds insane at first but once you look at their strategy, you’d ask why other companies aren’t doing the same. The simple trick is to use a similar engine in multiple styles of motorcycles. For example, Royal Enfield is using the 350CC engine in Meteor 350, Classic 350 and the upcoming Hunter 350. It looks like they are also testing an Interceptor with a 350cc engine.

This is how Jawa plans to go about their business as well. Jawa is readying itself to throw a fight to the Royal Enfield with some very brave launches. Let’s look at how they plan on winning

Yezdi Roadking Scrambler

Yezdi is being launched as a sub-brand of Jawa by Classic Legends a company owned by Mahindra. The first motorcycle under Yezdi name would be the Yezdi Roadking Scrambler, which has been seen being tested many times in the last year. Before we look at the specifications and looks of the Yezdi Roadking let’s answer a few questions about the brand itself.

Is Yezdi coming back?

Yes, Yezdi is coming back after 26 years. The last motorcycle under this brand was manufactured in the year 1996 as the Yezdi Roadking. The brand is being revived by the Classic Legends, owned by Mahindra and Mahindra.

Is Yezdi launching in India?

Yes, Yezdi is launching two new motorcycles, the Yezdi Roadking and the Yezdi ADV in India on 13th January 2022.

Are Jawa and Yezdi same?

Technically yes. Both Yezdi and Jawa come under the Classic Legends brand which is owned by Mahindra and Mahindra. Both of these companies will use the same 293cc engine that comes with the Jawa 42 and the 334cc one that powers the Jawa Perak.

The new Yezdi Roadking Scrambler will come mated with the same 293CC engine from the Jawa 42. Sure, it could have a different state of tune but the capacity would remain the same. The new Yezdi Scrambler / Yezdi Roadking is expected to be priced around Rs 1.70-1.80 Lakh ex-showroom. The Yezdi Scrambler/ Roadking would be launched on Jan 13th 2022.

Yezdi ADV

In the past few years, adventure motorcycles are on the rise. So far, Royal Enfield, Hero, KTM and Honda have injected a dose of adventure into their veins and enthusiasts have been loving it. Royal Enfield Himalayan is probably the most loved adventure motorcycle in the county and Jawa could not let RE have all the fun by themselves.

It is only logical for Jawa to aim a shot directly at the most famous motorcycle in the segment and so has it done. Yezdi is coming up with a direct Himalayan Rival in the form of Yezdi ADV. In terms of looks, it is a similar-looking motorcycle to the Himalayan with Jawa and Yezdi touches here and there.

So far not very much is known about the motorcycle apart from camouflaged images and videos from testing. We however know that Jawa has two engines. One 293cc which powers the Jawa 42 and the other 334cc engine that powers the Jawa Perak. Since the Yezdi ADV is an adventure motorcycle it would need more grunt and hence it is only apt that we think it’ll be powered by the 334cc engine from the Jawa Perak. The 334cc engine produces 30.64 PS and 32.74 NM as opposed to the Himalayan that produces 24.31 PS and 32NM.

Yezdi has announced that both Yezdi ADV and Yezdi Roadking would be showcased on 13th January 2022. Prices for the Zezdi Roadking have not been revealed yet but given the Jawa Perak costs Rs 2.06 Lakh Ex-showroom, we can expect the Yezdi ADV to be priced around Rs 2.10 Lakh ex-showroom.

The Yezdi ADV would be a direct competitor for Royal Enfield Himalayan and it would be interesting to see how it fares in terms of sales. The earlier Jawa motorcycles had some quality issues which is expected of any newly launches product. Soon however the quality improved as further iterations were launched.

If both the Yezdi Roadking and Yezdi ADV are priced competitively, they would certainly sell in good numbers given the popularity of this type of motorcycle in the country. At the end of the day, however, it is the customer who is the ultimate winner in all this. We would not only get more options but also it will push other brands to do better – an absolute win-win for us!

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