TVS Motor will launch the Apache RTR 160 in the US this year, the world’s most developed automobile market. If TVS Motors enters the US, it will be the second indigenous company to foray into that market, the first being Royal Enfield. Another Indian company, Mahindra & Mahindra plans to introduce its flagship Scorpio SUV in the US next year.
“We are in the launching mode, and finalising our entry into the US market. Our bike has met all stringent technical norms in the US and we have also appointed distributor to sell our products in the market.” The company will launch our advanced fuel injection Apache in the US. We have tweaked the product we already sell in India with some minor changes to meet the US automotive standards,” TVS Motor president (marketing & sales) HS Goindi said.
TVS Motors has cleared the mandatory technical and emission tests for its bike and plans to launch it later this year. TVS has held negotiations with Classic Motorworks, an importer and distributor of two-wheeler in the US, which already distributes Royal Enfield Motorcycles – Bullet, Classic and Croma in the US.
TVS will start shipping bikes in the next few months. TVS is not expecting big volumes, but looking at high brand leverage in the US, a predominant high-end big bike market like the Triumph, Harley Davidson, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha. TVS has presence in a few overseas markets, including a 300,000-units a year manufacturing facility in Indonesia, and also sells its bikes, scooters and mopeds in Latin America, South-East Asia and Africa.