Triumph aims for larger piece of Indian road; to tap smaller cities

  Legendary British motorcycle giant Triumph, having earned a sizeable market share, is looking at entering into the smaller cities in India.

The brand, which kick-started its India operations in 2013, currently has 10 dealerships in the country. Incidentally, it opened its first dealership in Bengaluru, followed by Hyderabad and Kochi. Later, more showrooms sprung up at Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh and Kolkata.

“For Triumph, it entirely depends on where the market for premium motorcycles is. Our strategy has always been to align our presence across strategic locations where we are assured to gain competitive advantage and generate strong brand presence.

The next couple of cities on our radar are Jaipur and Indore,” Triumph Motorcycles India Managing Director Vimal Sumbly told Deccan Herald.    

Triumph sells 12 models across the five broad categories of classic, cruiser, roadster, adventure and super sports in India, and is aiming to beat the competition in pricing.

“We have ensured that our motorcycles are attractively priced in all the segments we operate in. With stable and easy finance schemes through our financial partners (Triumph has tied up with HDFC Bank), it makes for a very good proposition.”

The prices for the bikes range from Rs 5.9 lakh for the Bonneville, going up to Rs 22 lakh for the Rocket. More motorcycles are likely to hit the road in the future.

The company has been gradually claiming market share in India, selling 1,300 motorcycles in the last year alone.

“Our target for the first year was to sell 500 motorcycles in India and we have successfully sold over 1,300 motorcycles,” Sumbly said, adding that Triumph Motorcycles globally recorded its highest sales figures in 30 years reaching a volume of 54,432 units in the last fiscal year.

Triumph has seen a 4.5 per cent increase in its year-on-year global sales, compared with the previous record of 52,089 motorcycles, sold in 2013.

The Indian market has also played a major role in Triumph Motorcycles’ global sales growth, contributing to almost 2.4 per cent of the 54,432 motorcycles sold in fiscal 2013-2014.

CKD kit assembly

The company has a fully functional plant in Manesar, Haryana, where it assembles completely knocked-down (CKD) kits of its models.

Today, the £333.7-m (fiscal 2012 July to 2013 June) Triumph is the largest British motorcycle manufacturer, with more than 745 dealers across 54 countries in the world, and employs around 2,000 people worldwide.

Hopeful of the future of the luxury motorcycle segment in India, Sumbly said, “The industry currently stands at just about 4,000 units sold every year, which is expected to grow to almost 10,000 in the next year.

The current trends show immense opportunity for growth as we have grown 200 per cent within the industry, with a young, aware, and globalised generation pushing it.”