Triumph Motorcycles to open 15 dealerships by March 2015

Triumph Motorcycles India, which inaugurated its seventh dealership in India, in Delhi, today plans to open 15 dealerships across India by end-March 2015. Having launched its premium and luxury motorcycles in India last November, it had targeted the opening of nine dealerships by May 2014. The eighth dealership will open in Chennai on June 7 and the ninth in Kolkata in July.

Vimal Sumbly, managing director, told Autocar Professional that thereafter Triumph will look to expand its 3S outlets spanning sales, aftersales service and spare parts services in another six towns. “Our strategy is to offer experiential marketing through a riding culture to bring customers closer to the brand.”

The Delhi outlet will display all 11 motorcycle models across five categories – Classics, Roadsters, Adventure, Cruisers and Super sports. Triumph launched its 11th model – the Daytona 675 – at the Auto Expo 2014. Globally, it has one more superbike category which it has not brought to India yet. The Delhi dealership has already received 30 bookings with 40 percent for the three Classic models, 10 percent from Café racers and 15 percent from Speed and Street bikes and the balance spread across the range.

Triumph Motorcycles India, which opened its first dealer outlet in Bangalore and has clocked overall bookings for 450 units in 25 weeks, has targeted 500 bookings by end-June, 1,200-plus by end-FY’15 and 1,500- plus in FY’16.

All the technicians and staff at the dealerships have been trained by Triumph’s UK team at the company’s Manesar plant. The bikemaker has tied up with HDFC Bank for offering easy financing facilities for customers and with Castrol India for lubricants.

Triumph is banking heavily on its new Delhi outlet which is integrated with an aftersales service facility spanning service bays and spare parts inventory and also offers the option of ‘Build your own bike’, a new concept in the premium and luxury motorcycle segment. There is also a range of Triumph merchandise available.

“Delhi is a very important motorcycling destination for Triumph. We are overwhelmed with the customer interest generated and the enquiries we have got so far from this region are fantastic,” added Sumbly. “This dealership will strengthen our commitment to establish the marquee brand in the National Capital Region.”

According to Sumbly, the superbike market in India is still in a  nascent stage but growing very fast. “With the kind of growth and kind of brands that are entering India, I am sure it will become very big as people upgrade to superbikes.”

Triumph has an assembly unit in Manesar, Haryana where it assembles seven of its motorcycles that come in CKD kits. The remaining four are sourced in CBU form.