BRAKING NEWS
The good news: Triumph. The bad news: Norton. Plus Aprilia and more.
After years of rumours and false starts, Triumph have sealed a deal with Indian giant Bajaj, the world’s third largest motorcycle manufacturer. It should mean that Triumph-badged sub-750cc bikes will appear within a couple of years, though not necessarily in the UK – their main target will be the massive Indian and Indonesian markets. The deal makes sense for both parties, Triumph getting instant access to hundreds of Bajaj dealers in India and to a manufacturing set-up that’s geared to churn out budget motorcycles. Get it right and thousands of new riders in developing countries will start their riding life on a Triumph and – hopefully – aspire to own a bigger one. Triumph were no doubt swayed by what Bajaj achieved with KTM. Those two linked up in 2013 and since then KTM sales in India have gone from 7400 to 50,705 in 2019. India is now KTM’S largest market and Bajaj build the KTM 390 and 125 Duke. That deal is different to the Triumph one though, as Bajaj own 48% of KTM, whereas Triumph and Bajaj remain separate entities. With the Triumph deal, Bajaj get the rights to distribute all Triumphs in India – the bulk of which are expected to be the new small-capacity Bajaj-made ones. A Triumph statement says: ‘The partnership will build new engine and vehicle platforms in the mid-capacity range (200-750cc) and offer multiple options to address different segments in this class.’ Triumph’s CEO, Nick Bloor, says: ‘As well as taking our brand into new territories, the products that will come out of the partnership will also help attract a younger, but still discerning, customer and is another step in our ambitions to expand globally, particularly in the fast-growing markets of South East Asia.’ Translation: we want to shift a lot of small bikes, but they won’t be pants.