British premium bikemaker Triumph Motorcycles has drawn up plans to achieve 20% sales growth during the current fiscal ending June 2021, said a top official.
“While the premium bike market has contracted by 30% to 35%, we have started seeing growth,” said Shoeb Farooq, business head, Triumph Motorcycles India.
“Our sales since June 2020 is similar to that of last year,” said Mr. Farooq.“We are hoping to sell 1,000 bikes this year (July to June 2021) against about 800 units sold last year.”
“We are bullish on India. It offers lot of opportunities. We have drawn up both short-term and long-term plans. First is the expansion of branch network from the current 14 to 16 within a year and then roll out high-end bikes from January 2021 and new set of segment bikes by mid-2022,” he said.
Asserting that they The bikemaker currently has 13 models, all adhering to BS VI norms, he said. Tirumph plans to take on the Japanese majors with the introduction launch of its Trident 650cc middle way naked roadsters that is production ready. It will be rolled out in India by the first quarter of 2021. It has a in-line, three-cyclinder engine. Besides, Tirumph also plans to unveillaunch some more models before June next year2021.
Regarding its non-equity joint venture tie-up with Bajaj Auto, he said it will pave way for building a new mid-capacity motorcycle with a new engine on a new platform, ranging from 200cc to 700cc, at an aggressive price range of ₹2-2.5 lakh. It will be rolled out by mid-2022.
Asked about the high tax structure which many players were complaining about, he said that there was hardly any difference between completely knocked-down (CKDs) kits and completely-built units (CBUs). CKDs were assembled at Manesar while CBUs were made in Thailand. It was in the ratio of 50:50.
Mr. Farooq said showroom expansion was delayed due to COVID-19. While they had earlier decided to open four branches, it was reduced to two to consolidate sales. The new branches will be opened within 12 months, taking the total to 14.
On Wednesday, Tirumph launched its new dealership in Chennai by partnering with Khivraj Group.