Yamaha R3 outsells Kawasaki Ninja 300 despite drop in price

Yamaha YZF-R3 was recently re-launched in the Indian market earlier this year in the BS IV avatar. The Yamaha YZF-R3 is quite popular and competes with directly with the Kawasaki Ninja 300 in the market. Before the launch of the BS IV compliant R3 in the Indian market, the bike was out from the market for quite some time. However, when the bike was available before that, it used to outsell the Kawasaki Ninja 300 by a big margin and it continues to do so.

In the month of August 2018, the Yamaha sold as many as 62 units of the YZF-R3 while Kawasaki sold only 2 units. This happens despite the fact that the price of the Kawasaki Ninja 300 has dropped by a huge margin and it is now even cheaper than the Yamaha R3. Kawasaki India announced the assembly of the Ninja 300 in India in July at a price of Rs. 2.98 lakhs, which is Rs. 60,000 cheaper than the outgoing model. The Yamaha YZF-R3 is priced at Rs. 3.48 lakhs.

The units sold every month is indicative and it shows the number of bikes dispatched by the manufacturer every month. It is quite possible that Kawasaki is still working out their set-up to manufacture Completely Knocked Down (CKD) units of the Kawasaki Ninja 300. If this is the reason then we will see a great increase in the dispatch numbers next month. Yamaha YZF-R3 is also a CKD model and is assembled in India. CKD units ensure a lower amount of tax on the bikes and allow the manufacturers to price their products competitively.

The 2018 Kawasaki Ninja 300 is powered by a 296cc, parallel-twin cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that develops a maximum power of 38.5 Bhp and 27 Nm. It gets ABS as standard. The Yamaha YZF-R3 is powered by a 321cc, liquid-cooled parallel-twin engine that generates a maximum of 41.4 Bhp and 29.6 Nm. The R3 also gets a dual-channel ABS set-up. Both the bikes get a 6-speed transmission.