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UM Motorcycles to shut shop in India?

Written by Parichay Malvankar

The bikes were not the best-in-class for sure, and the sales & service had very less to talk about. Now, seems like UM Motorcycles is coming to the end of the road here in their Indian operations. Along with Lohia Auto as their joint venture partner, UM Motorcycles has come to a production stop in India. Apparently since April 2019, the brand has registered 0 sales, hinting that its time to pack up. Quite a few dealers have already shut shop, and the bikes were already too less in numbers to be noticed on the streets.

Lohia Auto & UM Motorcycles might not be interested in bringing back the brand to life, as they have failed to capture a decent market here in the premium motorcycle segment, which is growing by the way. UM Motorcycles isn’t doing well in the overseas market as well, and that could have also led to some turmoil in the Indian market.

As of date, UM Motorcycles only sold cruiser models here in India. The brand had plans to introduce an electric model along with 2 adventure tourer motorcycles which failed to arrive. UM Motorcycles also did not upgrade their bikes with ABS, hence the 0 sales number since April 2019.

The question remains, what will happen to the bikes sold already? Will customers get service and spares support which showed faith and purchased UM Motorcycles in India? The cruiser bikes from the brand primarily rival the likes of Royal Enfield in the INR 1.5 – 2 lakh price range. Limited dealership and poor branding exercise never really allowed the brand to be recognised in the biker community. Also, the stigma that these are primarily Chinese products also was a deterrent in the buying decision for many.

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