It has been close to three years that enthusiasts have heard and drawn conjectures about the partnership between Triumph Motorcycles UK and India’s Bajaj Auto. The two motorcycle companies are a part of a long-term non-equity partnership with the agenda of developing new motorcycles and reaching new markets, and we finally know some concrete details of what to expect.
The workings of the partnership will go the whole hog (forgive the pun), creating from scratch a new engine and vehicle platform in the 200-750cc range, offering multiple options from the get-go. As with KTM, the resultant products of the Bajaj-Triumph deal will take their place within Triumph’s lineup. The icing on the cake, however, is that offerings within the range will be priced from under Rs 2 lakh and onwards, which means that once again Bajaj might just replicate KTM’s success story with Triumph.
And, courtesy Triumph’s already existing dealer network, the bikes will be sold from Triumph showrooms. However, there is a bit of a caveat here, as there is also word that the current Triumph dealerships will be taken over by Bajaj. Although no timeframe has been given, it would be safe to assume the takeover operations will be concluded before 2022.
Additionally, speaking about mutual benefits, the products from the offerings will be sold not only in the Indian market, but also in Bajaj’s South East Asian markets where Triumph does not have a presence, so that Bajaj can leverage their dealership network to expand the partnership's foothold.
Bajaj is no stranger to such partnerships, as the brand had first brought Kawasaki to India, and then taken KTM from a relatively unknown Austrian motorcycle maker to a household name in India, via sporty, small-capacity motorcycles that offer a good mix of performance and price tag. And it is this magic formula that Bajaj plans to exploit once again. That’s because once again, the partnership will be aimed in the mid-size sector that will bring a whole new audience in to the fold.
Bajaj has emphatically said they won’t be working on any spin-offs from established Triumph models. Knowing the Indian classic bike segment already has an established player (Royal Enfield), a worthy upstart (Jawa) and a newly minted aspirational offering (the Benelli Imperiale) it would have been great to see how a mid-capacity Bonneville would fare. But, considering Triumph also has the triple-cylinder models (in its Street and Tiger range), the possibilities are endless!
Lastly, the news of this partnership comes not a moment too soon, as there is already news of both Harley-Davidson and MV Agusta investing in partnerships with local manufacturers for the South East Asian markets. Suffice to say, the mid-capacity motorcycling space is set to get a whole lot hotter!