Will Modenas Take Over the Kawasaki Franchise in Malaysia?
When it comes to Japanese motorcycle companies, Kawasaki is no small player. The company has been producing motorcycles for more than half a century. In Malaysia, Kawasaki Motors (Malaysia) is the sole importer, assembler and distributor of their motorcycles, spare parts and more. Despite their strong and established presence in the country, Modenas seems to have made a bid directly with Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan to start locally-assembling and rebadging Kawasaki models in the country. Kawasaki Heavy Industries had apparently increased their share holding of Modenas the year before.
We’re not sure of the details, but the first signs of this appeared when the NAP 2020 was first announced. At the event, a Ninja 250 SE ABS was shown with Modenas branding. It was said the Modenas would be bringing this bike to market by H2 2020, but it doesn’t look like that hasn’t happened just yet. For now, what we still see are tha Bajaj bikes that Modenas have been selling here under license for a while.
During the NAP 2020 launch event, the official statement was that Modenas would be assembling and marketing other Kawasaki models below 700cc domestically. They also shared that an investment of RM5 million had been made to their assembly plant in Gurun to make all of this happen.
Our sources say that the deal has now gone beyond that and Modenas would be going all the way with Kawasaki, taking over much more than their sub-700cc bikes. Neither Modenas nor Kawasaki Motors (Malaysia) have officially said anything to this effect, but our sources seem to be quite sure of this news.
What’s also interesting is what will happen to the current owners and operators of Kawasaki Motors (Malaysia). Have they been thrown under the bus by Kawasaki Heavy Industry or has some other deal been worked out?
Our source says they’re about to bring another missing Japanese motorcycle brand back to Malaysia. Can you guess which one that is? We’ll give you a hint, it’s also a car brand that’s been missing from Malaysia. This is a story for another time.
About Kawasaki Motors (Malaysia)
Kawasaki Motors (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (KMSB) is the Franchise Holder and Sole Importer, Assembler, Distributor for Kawasaki Motorcycles, Jet Skis, ATV, Mule, RUV, Power Products, Spare Parts and Accessories for Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.
We have a well-established network of premium dealers and stockist to market and to promote our products to our customers. The Kawasaki Exclusive Service Center (KESC) and Kawasaki Pitstop (KPS) network, quality assurance and supported with fully equipped Service Centre, well-stocked Spare Part Centre strategically located all over the country to meet our customers’ demand.
It is the company’s philosophy to attain the highest standards in all its undertakings. Our passion for excellence, supported with dynamic and committed workforce gives us the best opportunity to achieve high standards and quality products, and services to offer to our customers, dealers, business associates and stakeholders.
About the Author
Subhash Nair Written work on dsf.my. @subhashtag on instagram. Autophiles Malaysia on Youtube.
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