SUZUKI Motorcycles has pulled all it’s large capacity motorcycles from sale in India due to the introduction of the new BS6 emissions regulations.
Until the new V-Strom 650 is brought to market, it’s reported to be on the way but not finished, the biggest bike Indian motorcyclists will be able to buy will be of 250cc in capacity or lower.
The missing models from the current Suzuki range include their flagship bike, the GSX-R1000R and RR, the Hayabusa, GSX-SF1000, GSX-S750 and both the V-Strom 650 and new V-Strom 1000 and V-Strom 1000 XT.
Is this the end of Suzuki in India?
While the news does look like Suzuki has been caught napping slightly, the situation might not be as bad as it first appears.
For a country like the UK, or any European neighbour, losing the full-size bikes in the Suzuki range would spell disaster for the Japanese factory. For us, not having bikes like the GSX-R1000 and GSX-S750 for sale would be like Burger King no longer selling burgers. But the motorcycle market in India has a completely different dynamic.
There, it’s small capacity commuter bikes and scooters that rule the roost. The sales of cheap, cheerful, and economical forms of transport are the key to hitting sales targets, not the range-topping sports bikes, super nakeds and adventure machines.
How did this happen to Suzuki?
The problem for Suzuki arose in 2017, when the then compliant BS4 emissions standard was brought in. When that happened, most of the Suzuki range was compliant with the regulations. The new regulations, called BS6, were brought in, Suzuki had to either change their whole range to now become compliant or pull the bikes from sale.
Changing the full range of large capacity bikes to BS6 would have been an expensive and time-consuming task for the firm, and the decision was taken to simply remove the bikes from sale instead.
As I mentioned above, had this happened in the UK, Europe, or even America, it would have been a vastly different story for Suzuki. Given the relatively small number of large-capacity Suzukis they sold in the Indian Market, the blow dealt by the change will be relatively small by comparison.
