JAWA Brand History
Jawa Motors is a motorcycle manufacturer based in Czech Republic and
founded in 1929 by Frantisek Janecek who bought the motorcycle
production line belonging to Wanderer. The first Jawa model was
officially rolled out on October 23, 1929 and it featured a 500cc engine
which developed 18hp. At first, everyone considered it a little bit too
expensive but during the next few years, it was dramatically improved
so it finally became a major success.The second Jawa model had to be cheaper in order to record at least the same success as its predecessor, so the cparent company introduced the next motorcycle dubbed Jawa 175. The motorcycles was extremely light, weighing around 70kg being able to reach a top speed of up to 80 km/h.
Because of these features, the 175 recorded pretty impressive high sales, managing to sell approximately 3,000 units in the first year of production (1932). What's interesting is that Jawa adopted a pretty difference marketing strategy, allowing interested consumers to test the motorcycles during exhibitions. Thanks to this thing but also thanks to the features of its bikes, the company managed to sell no less than 27,000 units by 1946.
In 1934, Jawa attempted to expand its market coverage by producing cars, releasing a couple of models, including the Jawa Minor and the Jawa Minor Sodomka in the 1930s. However, due to the start of World War II, the company recorded pretty low sales in the auto market.
