Bajaj and Triumph have officially penned a deal to produce Triumph branded motorcycles between 200 and 750 cc capacity at Bajaj’s plant
The preliminary announcements regarding Bajaj Auto and Triumph Motorcycles partnership were unveiled back in August 2017. As Bajaj turned KTM’s fortunes around after increasing its stake from 14.5 per cent in 2007 to nearly 48 per cent in 2015-16, the new alliance holds plenty of importance for both the brands in global and domestic side of affairs.
The non-equity tie-up rides on mutual benefits in mind as developing new business opportunities, cost effectiveness, distribution and bringing up new mid-capacity motorcycles had already been confirmed. Today, at Bajaj plant in Pune, the Bajaj-Triumph partnership has officially been signed and the key aspects have been discussed.
Paul Stroud, CCO, Triumph Motorcycles, addressed the gathering with the media among other key members including KTM’s CEO Stefan Pierer. The British manufacturer has presence in more than 57 markets across the globe and more than 60,000 units are sold every year with with a turn over of over 530 million GBP.
Under the partnership, the Triumph motorcycles will be built by Bajaj taking advantage of its local sourcing capabilities and lean manufacturing techniques. The models will range between 200 cc and it goes up to 750 cc as Triumph appears to bank on high volumes with the mutual tie-up. Moreover, and rather disappointingly, Rajiv Bajaj said that there will not be any Bajaj badged bike coming out from this deal.
He stated that if his brand had the ability to develop a motorcycle of that type, which felt like a Triumph on its own, they would not have bothered about the partnership in the first place. Bajaj will help in the distribution of the new motorcycles of all capacities in domestic and global scale in certain markets as well. The low capacity Triumph bikes will be available on sale from the Calendar Year 2022.
More than one motorcycle from the partnership has been assigned to work already. The first volume-based Triumph models will be priced well below Rs. 2 lakh. The new models will be designed by Triumph with Bajaj taking care of the production duties. It will likely aim to shake up the Royal Enfield dominance in the neo classic segment in India and global marketplaces.
Both the companies will also develop a new engine architecture for a brand new mid-size Triumph motorcycle. Nick Bloor, CEO of Triumph Motorcycles has added that the upcoming bikes will use his company ‘heritage’ names meaning that the existing monikers will continue to be badged on them.