New Delhi: After a delay of nearly two years, British motorcycle brand Triumph on Thursday entered the Indian market with ten models, priced between Rs 5.7 lakh and Rs 20 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
The company, which has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in the country, will start delivering its bikes from January next year and aims to sell around 500 units in the first six months of the launch in the country.
"We are aiming to sell around 400-500 motorcycles in the first six months of the launch. In the next one year, we are targeting to sell around 1,000 units in the Indian market," Triumph Motorcycles Director - Sales and Marketing (Global) - Paul Stroud told reporters here.
When asked about the reason for the two year delay in entering the Indian market, Stroud said the company took time to formulate product strategy for the Indian market.
"We wanted to make sure that we entered the market with right models and right partners. So it took us time to look into these issues. We were also looking at developing back-end support, as well as invested on the plant during the period," he added.
Stroud, however, did not share either the investments made at the plant or its annual production capacity. During the 2012 edition of the Auto Expo, the company had announced its entry into the Indian market with seven models. However, the company did not go ahead with its launch plans.
The company will assemble four models in its newly established plant in Manesar, while the rest would be come as completely-built units from its plants in the UK and Thailand.
It would assemble the Bonneville T100, Daytona 675R, Street Triple, Speed Triple and Thruxton in Manesar. The rest -- Rocket III Roadster, Tiger Explorer, Tiger 800 XC and Thunderbird Storm will be imported into the country as completely built units (CBUs), it added.
While the Bonneville is the lowest priced at Rs 5.7 lakh, the costliest bike from the Triumph stable in India will be the Rocket III Roadster tagged at Rs 20 lakh. The company said it will open four dealerships shortly in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
"We plan to open two dealerships at Bangalore and Hyderabad by the end of December. Dealerships in Mumbai and Delhi will follow after that. We plan to have nine dealerships across the country by March-end," Triumph Motorcycles India Manging Director Vimal Sumbly said.
He added that the company will start taking bookings of bikes during the second week of December and deliveries would begin from the first week of January.
Commenting on the potential of the Indian market, Stroud said: "India is an exceptionally exciting market for us and the premium motorcycle segment in the country is seeing tremendous growth.
This is the right time to establish our foothold here." The company's main focus this year will be to successfully establish Triumph's presence in India, he said, adding that Triumph has tied up with HDFC Bank to provide loan facility.
When asked if the company could go for a full-scale bike production in India, he said there no such plans at present. The Indian super premium bike market is estimated to be around 2,500 units per annum and has already attracted global players like Harley Davidson, BMW Motorrad and Ducati to set up shop here.
Triumph, which employs around 2,000 people globally, is the largest British motorcycle manufacturer and has more than 740 dealers across the world.
