Kawasaki Heavy Industries, a long time collaborator of Bajaj Auto [Get Quote], has announced that the company will launch high performance bikes by mid-2008.

The announcement comes barely a day after Bajaj Auto made similar deal with the Austrian sports bike company, KTM.

According to the deal, a range of Kawasaki bikes including the Ninja 250, Sports Roadster, Ninja ZX-6R, Z1000 and the Vulcan Cruiser will be marketed by Bajaj Auto at their Probiking showrooms.

In return, Bajaj will get assistance in technology and design development from Kawasaki for future products. Kawasaki will also tap into Bajaj's extensive supplier base for sourcing components.

Kawasaki will provide the necessary service training and parts back-up to ensure the upkeep of such high performance bikes.

Shinichi Tamba, president, Kawasaki Consumer Products and Machinery Company, said, "India is a very important market for KHI and Bajaj Auto is a strong partner. The Indian market is in the cusp of progressing to big bikes and Kawasaki is highly regarded in this segment."

To start with, the Ninja 250 model will be assembled at Bajaj's Chakan facility to tackle the huge import duties that are usually levied on imported vehicles. The 250cc, 30ps bike will be imported as completely knocked down kits from Kawasaki's Thailand plant.

Through this, the alliance also stands to gain from the low duties enjoyed between India and Thailand on account of the free trade agreement. This means that the bikes will be priced attractively, although the actual prices were not disclosed.

Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto, said, "Both companies have synergised their strengths to widen the portfolio in their respective markets. The domestic customer can now experience the power of big biking, while the Kawasaki customer in the Philippines has been experiencing the range of Bajaj products for the past few years. We are in discussions to extend the Philippines business model to other countries as well."

Bajaj has 10 probiking showrooms in the country, with a presence in all major markets. The company plans to add 10 more showrooms by end of March 2008.