The first product to roll out from the Bajaj-Triumph tie up is expected by the end of 2019
Bajaj Auto surprised everyone a few weeks back when it announced its alliance with the British moto giant – Triumph Motorcycles. The two will be making mid capacity bikes under their partnership. These motorcycles will be manufactured at the Bajaj’s production facility at Chakan near Pune while the design and engineering will be taken care of by Triumph.
Once the products are ready, Bajaj Auto will also be responsible for the sales and dealership network. With this, Triumph will not only have a more solid presence in India but the alliance will also help it expand its reach to South East Asia, Africa and East Asian markets where Bajaj already has its vehicles rolling.
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Another benefit for Triumph motorcycles will be the low cost products that will be churned out from the Bajaj factory. For this purpose, Bajaj is even planning to build a separate production facility near its existing Chakan facility. If this happens, it will be much easier for the logistics, supply and other parameters to operate.
Coming to what motorcycles could roll out from the Bajaj-Triumph tie up, as already mentioned, the mid capacity bikes will be on top priority. For those completely unaware, Triumph Motorcycles had started testing a couple of small capacity motorcycles back in 2013 even before its entry to Indian shores.
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Both these bikes carried a 250cc engine and were the downsized versions of the Triumph Daytona and Street Triple. Reports even suggested that Triumph was testing these machines specifically for India and hence, these can now make their way into reality.
At present, Royal Enfield is the one who is leading the mid-sized motorcycle segment in India starting from 350cc to 500cc. With its best selling Classic range, the Eicher owned subsidiary is clocking 55,000 to 60,000 units a month. Bajaj Auto, with its Dominar 400 entered the territory last year and tried to create ripples in the segment but has not managed to do so till now.
In fact, the sales of the Dominar have been dipping month on month but the company is quite optimistic in achieving 10,000 units sales (including exports) by the end of this year. Having said that, a mid capacity Bajaj-Triumph retro classic can make much sense as a worthy alternative to the Royal Enfield Classics.