Bajaj Auto-Triumph Motorcycles alliance announcement on January 24

Thirty months after it announced plans to jointly target the global midsize motorcycle market with Triumph Motorcycles of the UK, Bajaj Auto has confirmed that it will hold a press conference announcing this alliance on January 24, 2020. At the time, the two motorcycle manufacturers had entered into a non-equity partnership focused on developing and retailing midsize motorcycles

While Bajaj Auto, which owns 49 percent stake in Austrian brand KTM and has an arrangement to make sub-400cc motorcycles, will gain in terms of venturing into the 400cc-750cc space, Triumph will benefit in the form of developing more affordable motorcycles (via Bajaj Auto competitive pricing strategies) and enable a foray in many emerging markets.

In a manner similar to KTM, which is already reaping benefits on the back of its association with Bajaj Auto,  Triumph Motorcycles will target new demand for mid-capacity motorcycles in emerging markets including India.

Bajaj Auto’s announcement In August 2017 read, “We hope to bring to bear upon global markets the individual strengths of the partners including brand position and perception, design and development technology, quality and cost competitiveness and worldwide distribution. This new global partnership will enable Triumph to significantly expand its global reach by entering new higher volume market segments, especially within the emerging markets across the world. Bajaj will gain access to the iconic Triumph brand, and its great motorcycles, enabling it to offer a wider range of motorcycles within its domestic market and other international markets.”

The obvious advantage for Triumph is in the access it gets to frugal engineering and low-cost labour – an area in which Bajaj Auto has considerable experience. Meanwhile, Bajaj Auto could benefit from using Triumph’s vast expertise in developing a mid-capacity modern classic motorcycle, to take on the likes of Royal Enfield in the Indian market.

Bajaj Auto firing on all cylinders in FY2020
Meanwhile, even as the shift to BS VI is underway in the Indian automotive industry, and all automakers in India are aiming to perfect the black art of balancing outgoing BS IV models with new BS VI products, the Pune-based Bajaj Auto seems very strongly placed at this stage.

Nine months into the fiscal year, the company has just 31,439 units in its inventory. Having produced 3,062,589 motorcycles in the April-December 2019 period, the company has sold a total of 1,675,264 units in the domestic market (-13.25%) and exported 1,418,764 units (8.83%).  This leaves just 31,439 units in its inventory at end-December 2019.

Check out the company's domestic and export sales statistics. As a result of its robust export strategy, the company has capably buffered the decline in motorcycle sales in the troubled domestic market.