After over a decade of presence in Kenya, TVS has announced the regular production of Star Series of motorcycles in the country. By commissioning an assembly plant in Africa and completing their tests and training, K N Radhakrishnan, President and CEO of the Chennai based motorcycle manufacturer announced the company’s plans of launching two new motorcycles over the next two quarters.
The motorcycles are designed and developed to cater to the needs of African consumers and will be assembled at their new Nakuru Plant. Through associations with Car and General, Nairobi for distribution of two-wheelers and Abson Motors, Mombasa for sales of three-wheelers, Radhakrishnan expressed their plans of growing to 40 percent market share from the existing 27 percent.
TVS operates with 75 dealers, 300 service points and around 2500 trained mechanics in Kenya. To tap the market potential, TVS’ rival from motherland, Hero MotoCorp announced its arrival almost a month ago. India’s largest automaker has also developed a 100cc engine, specifically for the African market. The continent is showing huge growth potential and many companies are heading there to take their piece of the pie.
Will TVS also offer these bikes in India? We are not quite sure but we have a strong feeling that the two products being launched in Kenya are tweaked versions of existing TVS bikes.
Source – Economic Times