New Jawa 42 FJ Motorcycle Launched at Rs 1.99 Lakh

Mumbai, Sep 3 (PTI) Mahindra Group-owned premium motorcycle firm Classic Legends, which has three motorcycle brands under it, is running a marathon and will navigate any challenge in the rebuilding of the resurrected brands like Jawa, Group Chairman Anand Mahindra has said.

Speaking at the launch of all-new Jawa 42 FJ motorcycle here, Mahindra also said that stories build brands and brands are nothing but an aggregation of stories.

The latest offering in the neo-classic segment from the Group is priced at Rs 1.99-lakh onwards and would compete with the likes of Royal Enfield's Classic 350 and Hunter.

In October 2016, Mahindra & Mahindra, through its subsidiary Classic Legends Private Limited (CLPL), signed a licensing deal to launch motorcycles under the Jawa brand name in India and other East Asian countries.

The same year, the company acquired British motorcycle brand BSA as well.

Mahindra & Mahindra owns a 60 per cent stake in Classic Legends, while the balance is held by Anupam Thareja's Phi Capital and real estate developer Boman Irani.

"Stories build brands. Brands are nothing but aggregations of stories. Why they were formed, how they were formed. How they were built. How they grow. New brands tell new stories. And often all resurrected brands also tell new stories," Mahindra said at the launch.

"We are privileged at Classic Legends to have the opportunity to both resurrect an old brand and to build new stories, a new history. However, contradictory that might sound," he said.

“All of us have challenges, all of us are looking forward to the excitement that this brand will bring,” he said, adding, "We are running a marathon, we may fall, we may sweat (but) we will rise up," Mahindra stated.

The fresh launch comes on the back of the company introducing its BSA motorcycle model God Star last month.

The Jawa motorcycle was reintroduced in India in November 2018 and Yezdi brand in January 2022.

Noting that Classic Legend is one of the growth gems at the Group, Mahindra Group CEO and Managing Director Anish Shah said the company is well positioned at the second spot in the premium motorcycle segment in the country and is looking forward to acquiring the top slot.

"The 2024 Jawa 42 embodies our design-led approach to motorcycle engineering. We've taken our time with this bike, pushing the boundaries of the 'price-performance' matrix. As pioneers of neo-classics in India, the 42 FJ is a testament to our challenger spirit and disruptive approach," Anupam Thareja, Co-founder of Jawa Yezdi Motorcycles.

Classic Legends' diverse portfolio now spreads across three brands and three style segments - Classics, Neo Classics and Customs, and Thareja believes that the neo-classic segment is the one which will grow faster.

Thareja also said that with the launch of Jawa 42 FJ, the range is complete now and added that "now the segmentation of the market is complete. We have got the product, we have got the distribution and you will see the disruption."

"We are trying to make an Indian Global two-wheeler company," he added.

Without divulging sales numbers, Thareja said that enquiries are now picking up after a sort of slowdown in the last few months on account of Parliamentary polls and weather conditions and expressed hope that Diwali this year will be the best for the domestic automobile industry.

"Rains have been good, mood is ok, uncertainty around elections is behind us (and) once the rains subside there will be pent-up demand of all these months, apart from the fact that there is a genuine uptick that we see," he stated.

The company already has 450 dealers and is looking to add another 100 dealerships--Jawa Cafes before the festive season, Thareja said.

Last month, Classic Legends said it was aiming for 600 plus dealerships this year.

On investment, he said now the model lineup is done and so the company will now going to invest in distribution and global expansion. "I think, we will use about Rs 1,000 crore, of which Rs 350 crore has already been spent,"

With the expansion of the '42 Life' series, Jawa has extended the ideal balance of design, price, and performance across motorcycle formats, to appeal to a wide swathe of discerning riders, the company said.