The motorcycle industry can be a tough nut to crack. For evidence of that claim, look no further than Mahindra & Mahinda CEO Anand Mahindra characterizing the company’s revival of Jawa motorcycles as a “product failure”. Despite the disparaging words from Mahindra, Jawa is moving forward with plans to release its newest model—the Perak. Jawa hopes to improve its fortunes by opening pre-orders for the blacked-out bobber in January 2020 with shipments following in April.
All The Retro Rage
At the beginning of 2019, the fervor around Jawa Motorcycles was hitting a fever pitch. However, by spring 2019, it was evident that the company couldn’t keep up with presales for its first two models, the Jawa and Jawa 42. The backlash from the delivery debacle along with build quality complaints contributed to Jawa stumbling out of the gate, but they are applying the lessons learned from those missteps. To fulfill delivery commitments and increase customer satisfaction this time around, Jawa plans to limit the number of Perak’s produced.
After acquiring rights to Jawa in 2016, Mahindra & Mahindra leveraged the brand’s legacy for small-displacement retro motorcycles. Perfect for commuting, the nostalgic designs quickly drew the attention of the public and the ire of a competing company’s CEO. Jawa is hoping that the BS6-compliant, 334cc Perak will stabilize the business for the budding motorcycle arm of Mahindra & Mahindra while competing with the likes of Royal Enfield’s Classic 350.
We’ll have to wait for April to see if Jawa is implementing its delivery service in a more efficient manner but we’re certainly looking forward to the Perak’s pre-order numbers at the end of January. If Jawa can grow from its past experiences, address build quality issues, and meet customer demand, there’s no reason they can’t find product success in 2020.
Sources: News 18, India Today