TVS-owned British brand, which plans to launch six all-new motorcycles over the next three years and produce them at its new Solihull plant in the UK, also plans to manufacture them in India.
22 Jul 2024 | 4886 Views | By Rishaad Mody, Autocar India
Autocar India recently broke the news that the TVS Motor-owned Norton Motorcycles would debut six brand-new products over the next three years. While these motorcycles will go on sale in India as well, there’s more exciting news in that Norton motorcycles will also be manufactured in India.
In a ...
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Autocar India recently broke the news that the TVS Motor-owned Norton Motorcycles would debut six brand-new products over the next three years. While these motorcycles will go on sale in India as well, there’s more exciting news in that Norton motorcycles will also be manufactured in India.
In a recent conversation with Sudarshan Venu, Managing Director, TVS Motor, we have learned that the company will be leveraging its manufacturing and supply chain might in India to bolster the UK-based Norton business. Norton’s first all-new product under TVS ownership is due to come out in 2025 and TVS plans to begin production at its Hosur plant in Tamil Nadu as well by the end of next year.
Production will also continue at Norton’s new facility in Solihull UK, but TVS will be using its facilities in Hosur as well. “I believe high quality manufacturing is what TVS really brings – it is the strength of TVS and, therefore, we will definitely use that fully to leverage Norton. But at the same time, they (the bikes) will be uniquely Norton, which is why we're having European design, European marketing, European engineering as well. And, so we will bring this combination together to create products which are uniquely Norton.”
Norton will not be the only premium European brand to manufacture motorcycles outside of its home country. Both Triumph and Ducati are prime examples where most of their product range is also manufactured in Thailand. Moreover, TVS already manufactures products for BMW Motorrad out of its Hosur facilities, including the 310cc platform of bikes and the new CE 02 electric scooter, which it began exporting at the end of FY2024. The BMW products are not only manufactured here, but have been co-engineered with TVS as well.
At present, while little is known about what segment these new Norton motorcycles will be slotted in, TVS Motor Co’s managing director is clear about the fact that Norton will remain a premium brand. While we’ll have to wait to learn about what sort of motorcycles roll out in the near future, the good news is that locally manufactured machines should be priced (relatively) affordably when compared with other premium imported bikes in India.
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