Reference Auto

India’s high-end motorcycle market is on the boil and many bike makers like Harley Davidson, BMW and Ducati are vying for a place, and in the latest, Triumph Motorcycles of the UK has lined up plans to bring in seven of its models, but with the company still being an unknown brand in India, will its bikes generate adequate response?

Triumph is planning to assemble four of these bikes in India, and if set up, the unit would be Triumph’s first assembly line outside its parent company’s location, the UK.

Although Triumph will be eyeing over 30 per cent of India’s market, it would be commendable if it can surpass half that number.

This bullishness on the Indian market has been spurred by the global achievement of Triumph, which saw nearly a double digit sales rise, even though the overall market saw a decline of nearly 7 per cent.

Ashish Joshi, managing director, Triumph Motorcycles India, deliberated on the company’s policy saying, “We are not into making stripped-down versions of large motorcycles,” adding, “The light and lower priced bikes are witnessing demand too. But we went the other way (by making large bikes) and grew. We pump in money into products while others invest in brand building.”

Triumph must realize that India is an overcrowded market with brands like Harley Davidson, Honda, Yamaha, Ducati, Hyosung and BMW, which are competing in a market that sees a sales of less than 100 a month (on an average).

But the market has a potential to grow over 100 per cent every year for the next five years and this could have made Triumph upbeat on the country.

The high-end bike maker is planning to showcase its wonders at the Auto Expo in Delhi next month.

“Our strategy for the country will be well phased out. The first part of the rollout plan will be a CKD assembly unit, which will enable us to offer customers bikes at competitive prices.”

Triumph Motorcycles will be rolling out its twin Bonneville initially.

This will be followed by a sports bike called Speed Triple and, Street Triple with an off roader Tiger 800XC, sports bike Daytona 675, Triumph Storm, along with Rocket III, the launches of which will take place in quick succession.

In fact, from 675 cc Super Sport bike the Daytona 675 cc to 2,300 cc Rocket III, Triumph will offer a slew of heavy bikes at different price points.

This is encouraging as the niche heavyweight bike fan will get a wide choice at different price ranges but Triumph Motorcycles will have to create awareness about its bikes in order to achieve its sales target and break the tag of an unknown brand in India.