Hyosung Motors is a subsidiary of the Korea-based Hyosung Group of Industries and was founded in 1978. The company did not start off by building its own vehicles but instead, provided technical assistance to other renowned brands, as evinced by the agreement between Hyosung and Suzuki in 1979.
However, the company grew significantly in its early days and due to its continuous expansion, it established its first technical research institute in 1986. By 1987, the company was building its own motorcycles using in-house technology. By 1996, Hyosung had produced more than a million motorcycles and in the next five years, it managed to reach the two million mark as well. In the following years, Hyosung began searching for local partners in numerous Asian and European countries in order to increase its global presence and to also strengthen its existing dealer network. One example of this partnership was seen in India in 2004.
In 2004, Hyosung had entered into a partnership with Kinetic Motors to sell their premium bikes such as the Comet 250, Aquila 250 and GF 125 as CBU units. The partnership, however, did not last long and Kinetic exited the two-wheeler business when it sold off its assets to Mahindra in 2008. This resulted in Hyosung’s brief hiatus from India.
In 2010, Hyosung announced its comeback via a partnership with the newly-formed Garware Motors, part of the $400 million Garware Group. This time, the bikes were brought to India as CKD units and were assembled, marketed and sold by Garware Motors. Assembly took place at Garware Motors’ new assembly unit in Wai, Maharashtra.
In 2011, the first Hyosung models in India after the brand’s comeback, the GT650R and the ST7, were launched. However, unable to maintain its new partnership, Garware Motors sold its Hyosung bike business to the Pune-based DSK Group in 2012 and from this point forward, DSK Motowheels Private Limited took charge of assembling and retailing Hyosung bikes in India. The brand name also changed to DSK-Hyosung. The first new model to hit the showrooms from the DSK-Hyosung stable was the GT250R, launched in June 2012 which became the brand’s entry-level sports bike.
The range of Hyosung bikes in India consists of the Aquila GV250, GT250R, GT650R and the Aquila Pro650 which form the company’s 2018 product line-up.
Hyosung bike prices in India start at around ₹ 3.02 lakhs for the 2018 Aquila GV250 and go up to ₹ 5.62 lakhs for the 2018 Aquila Pro650. All Hyosung bike price listings can be found on the website of autoX.
