Hit and Flop two-wheelers of 2019: From KTM RC 125 to Suzuki Gixxer 250 & Honda Activa 125 BS6!

A few more hours to go for the end of 2019, and the decade as well! The current year saw multiple exciting launches in the two-wheeler space out of which, some even set the sales charts on fire. On the other hand, there were also some that didn't manage to catch the fancy of the customers and hence, flopped miserably. As it is the end of an year and the beginning of a new one, in typical Express Drives tradition, we take a trip down the gone by months and look at the hit and flop two-wheelers that were launched this year. It has to be noted that the two-wheelers are not listed entirely on the basis of sales numbers but overall market acceptance, appeal and our experience. Let us know which one is your favourite!

Hit - Benelli Imperiale 400: The most affordable offering by Benelli did manage to catch the attention of the Indian buyers. The retro cruiser by the Italian manufacturer received over 4,500 bookings in almost three months of its launch. Priced at Rs 1.69 lakh (ex-showroom), the Benelli Imperiale 400 not only offers a great engine performance but also comes with decent riding dynamics. The bike goes up against the likes of the Royal Enfield Classic 350 and the Jawa Classic.

Hit - Revolt RV 400: Being the first mass-market all-electric motorcycle in India, Revolt RV 400 made a lot of noise in the country's electric two-wheeler space. The company aims to challenge the conventional 125cc petrol offerings with the RV 400. With an ARAI certified range of 156 km and a top speed of 85 kmph, the RV 400 comes with interesting payment plans starting at Rs 3,499, under which you need to pay on a monthly basis.

Hit - Honda Activa 125 BS6: When it comes to India's best selling two-wheelers, Activa is one name that you simply cannot ignore. Launched as India's first BS compliant scooter, the Activa 125 BS6 boasts of multiple new features including silent start system, idle start-stop system, digital-analog instrumentation and more. A few days back, the company announced that the BS6 compliant Activa 125 and SP 125 have cumulatively crossed a sales milestone of 60,000 units.

Hit - KTM RC 125: KTM's baby supersport did wonders for the company and sales of the RC 125 along with 125 Duke are currently averaging at around 2,500 units a month. Launched in June this year, the KTM RC 125 is a great option for performance bike enthusiasts at a tempting price point.

Hit - Bajaj Pulsar 125: The most affordable bike in the Pulsar family - Bajaj Pulsar 125 was launched in India this year. While safety regulations and increasing insurance costs kept on hiking the price of vehicles, the Pulsar 125 was a smart step by the company to counter-attack the same. Launched in August this year, the Pulsar 125 has managed to see over 53,000 unit sales and is currently priced at Rs 66,618 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Hit - Suzuki Gixxer SF 250: Suzuki Gixxer SF 250 is one of the finest motorcycles in its segment that brings with it a competitive price tag and impressive performance. Powering the bike is a 249cc, single-cylinder, oil-cooled that is good for producing respective power and torque outputs of 27hp and 23Nm. The bike is currently priced in India at Rs 1.70 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Hit - BS6 TVS Apache RTR 200 4V: Instead of just updating the engine to BS6 compliance, TVS decided to give a significant update to the Apache RTR 200 4V. As a result, the new 2020 model gets an all-LED headlamp along with multiple interesting features like GTT (Glide through traffic) technology, feather touch electric start and more. Apart from this, the bike also gets Smart Xonnect, all thanks to which you can connect your smartphone to the bike via Bluetooth in order to get useful data.

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Flop – Mahindra Mojo ABS: Launched in August this year at a price of Rs 1.88 lakh (ex-showroom), the Mahindra Mojo ABS replaced both previous versions of the bike namely XT300 and UT300. The idea was to give the design of the UT300 and offer some features of the XT300 in order to keep the price in check. Sales of the Mojo have always been discouraging for the brand and last month, the bike saw just one unit sale across India. Yes, market acceptance for the Mojo is that bad!

Flop - Benelli Leoncino 250: Launched in October this year at a price of Rs 2.5 lakh (ex-showroom), the Leoncino 250 did not manage to catch the attention of the buyers despite being a good-looking product. One of the prime reasons why the Leoncino 250 didn't get a great start in India is the presence of more capable and potent motorcycles like TVS Apache RR 310, Royal Enfield 650 twins and KTM 390 Duke at a similar price point.

Flop - Honda CB300R: Despite having an appealing neo-retro styling, Honda CB300R did not manage to deliver pleasing numbers in terms of sales. In order to be precise, the bike saw a unit sales of 75 units in the month of October 2019. While the CB300R is adequately powered and is a great handler, there are more powerful and better feature-packed bikes at the same price point and which is why the bike couldn't register itself as a decent selling product.