Aimed at younger buyers, Premium British Motorcycle maker Triumph has entered the fast-growing mid-size motorcycle market in India in partnership with Bajaj Auto - close on the heels of US iconic brand Harley Davidson to challenge the dominance of Royal Enfield – the mid-size motorcycle specialist.
The company on Wednesday launched the Speed 400 at a price of Rs 2.23 lakh for the first 10,000 buyers. After that, the vehicle will be priced at Rs 2.33 lakh and the launch price of the new Scrambler 400x will be announced in October, the company said.
Unveiling the mid-size bikes in Pune, Steve Sargent, Chief Product Officer, Triumph Motorcycles said, “Our ambition is very simple, we want to give a whole new generation of riders an opportunity to ride a Triumph. It is all about creating iconic speed and scrambler line up, they can be recognised as Triumph, making it more accessible to people. We have focused on delivering a perfect ride.”
These bikes will be sold through a dedicated Triumph network of 100 showrooms in 80 cities till the end of this year. The bikes will be made at Bajaj Auto’s new Chakan 2 facility.
Bajaj Auto is starting with an initial capacity of 5,000 units a month, which can be scaled up as per demand, assured the company.
These two bikes have been delivered through a major 5-year project, conceived and designed by Triumph in Hinckley, UK, and engineered in partnership with Bajaj Auto.
Apart from Bajaj Auto’s factory in Chakan in India, these bikes will be assembled At Triumph’s facilities in Thailand and Brazil.
These mid-size bikes are powered by a new TR series of 400 cc single-cylinder engines with a six speed gearbox and they will join the modern classic line up of Triumph in the higher cubic capacity. The mid-size bikes are built on an all new dedicated Roadster chassis. The bikes deliver a classic leading 40 PS of power and 37.5 nm of Torque, claimed the company.
Made in India for the world, the mid-size motorcycles are first launched in India, before it is shipped to other parts of the world.
The bikes have been adapted for Indian roads, with unique features – like the Sari Guard, front number, grab handles, suspension settings, wheels and tyres
Unveiling the bike, Triumph top management said these bikes are aimed at a wider customer base right from a youngster who is looking at his first big bike to even an existing user of big bikes to offer him a lighter second option.
The Bajaj-Triumph Duo was non-committal on volumes, between both these bikes - the company plans to produce about 40,000 units in the next six months meant for both domestic and exports market.
Triumph will offer 25 accessories options to the Indian buyers. In terms of service, it will offer a 10,000 mile or 16,000 kms service interval and a 2-year unlimited comprehensive mileage warranty.
After three years of intensive discussion, Bajaj Auto and Triumph Motorcycles had formalised a partnership in January 2020 to enter the growing mid-size motorcycle segment in India challenging the maker of Bullet motorcycle, Royal Enfield head-on, with the range of bikes priced around Rs 2 lakh.
It is a long term non-equity alliance wherein both partners jointly developed, engineered these mid-size bikes Bajaj taking the responsibility of sourcing and manufacturing of these mid-size bikes at the Chakan facility on the outskirts of Pune.
Close to a million motorcycles are sold above Rs 1.5 lakh and 200 cc and Royal Enfield enjoy a lion's share of market with over 90% share. Apart from a series of sports bikes, Mahindra & Mahindra backed Classic Legends has been selling Yezdi and Jawa brands with Honda entering the fray in October 2020, with Harley joining the race early this week.
To be sure, this is not the first time Triumph has attempted to crack into the mid-size motorcycle space. Its own attempt to make a 250 cc bike independently did not yield the desired result way back in 2015-2016.
For Bajaj Auto the discussion to partner Triumph goes way back to 2007, when it first expressed desire to join hands with the UK based bike maker. After a series of preliminary discussions between 2007 to 2016, both parties decided to engage into a serious discussion on an alliance in 2017, before formalising it on October 2020.