Bajaj-Triumph to launch 500cc single – Royal Enfield rival

Bajaj has recently tied up with Triumph motorcycles to jointly build bikes for the Indian market and also export them globally. This partnership is expected to start spawning products by 2020. The first motorcycle will most likely be a 500cc single cylinder one. As per reports, this 500cc bike will be an affordable one and will be a challenger to the Royal Enfield 500cc bikes. The new bike will be positioned in the mid-size segment which ranges from 250cc to 750cc. The companies are working on a prototype of the same which is almost nearing completion.

The sources have also revealed that the first product under the partnership is likely to hit the Indian market in 2020 and may be positioned in the middle of the mid-capacity segment (250cc-750cc). A concept of this project has also been finalised. Triumph also aims to increase sales by 1 lakh units under the partnership.

As per Triumph Motorcycle chief commercial officer, Paul Stroud, “The partnership with Bajaj will enable us to become a bigger brand within the country more quickly. You could be talking about a scenario where Triumph goes from selling 1,200 motorcycles today to volumes that are north of 1,00,000 units, which is a significant scale. That is the power of the opportunity.”

Both companies are discussing the final elements of the partnership and are likely to be finalized soon. Triumph’s global sales stand at 64,000 units and India takes up only 2% of the pie. (Triumph has sold 4,500 bikes in the country till date. Under this partnership and new products, Stroud is confident that brand’s overall sales will improve and be a major seller in India.

Stroud also added that the two brands are investing jointly and gaining knowledge. They both are pooling their individual strengths together. This will be beneficial in reaching the targets sooner. Triumph individually will be concentrating on the higher segments above 500cc, while the new bikes under the partnership will be focussing on the mid-size segment. Apart from the partnership, Triumph has plans to assemble 90% of its products in the country by mid-2018.

The new 500cc bike is expected to be a retro-styled one. This will make it go head-on against the Royal Enfield Classic 500. The bike will most likely carry the Triumph brand name as it has a good appeal and is also aspirational to many. It will also be price at a slight premium over RE. The partnership intends to grab a good market share in this segment and rob Royal Enfield of its leadership and volumes.

Source – ETAuto