Triumph Motorcycles will begin its India operations from as early as September this year. The British bike maker will start assembling bikes bought via the CKD route at a plant in Haryana. The company had previously planned a manufacturing facility at Bangalore. However, they have now decided to first test the Indian market for feasibility. So the Haryana operations will be more of a trial run for two years until they set up a fully operational manufacturing plant in Bangalore. The factory land for assembling operations in Haryana could most probably be a purchased or taken on lease.
Meanwhile, Triumph has begun the recruitment process for its India operations. The company has also got grant for 30 acres of land in Bangalore, for its manufacturing plant set for starting production in 2015. The initial investment is about Rs. 215 crores. The assembly operation in Haryana will help keep the prices low. While coming in through the CBU route would have attracted 75% import duty, the CKD kits attract only 10% percent import duty. India has presence of almost every major bike manufacturer, some through collaboration with Indian companies, some through their own local assembly and a few still get orders for their mean bikes through the CBU route.
Triumph had displayed its models at the 2012 Auto Expo in Delhi. Cruisers like Storm and Rocket III, the supersport Daytona 675, Bonneville, Speed Triple and Street Triple and the off-roading bike Tiger 800XC were showcased. The company had then revealed they would assemble some of the bikes in India. The price for the Triumph range of bikes vary between Rs. 5.5 – 22 lakhs. The market for such motorcycles is small but definite and it is only about to grow. Triumph has every possibility to make it big in India, although the initial sheen was grabbed by Harley-Davidson which has its local assembly plant in Gurgaon.
Source – LiveMint
