Bajaj-Triumph motorcycle akin to Royal Enfield, Harley Davidson to hit Indian roads next year?

A collaboration between Bajaj Auto and Triumph Motorcycles to develop and manufacture a mid-capacity motorcycle which will be a rival to premium bikes such as Royal Enfield and Harley Davidson is likely to be launched in India next year.

A non-equity parternship signed by the two automobile firms in 2017 aims to develop the motorcycles in the range of 500cc engine capacity thus competing with Eicher's Royal Enfield, which is ruling the mid-capacity motorcycle segment in India, according to gaadiwaadi.com.

The product design and model will be developed by Triumph whereas the manufacturing process will be carried out at Bajaj's Chakan plant. The partneship hopes to leverage Triumph's expertise in developing mid and high capacity motorcycles coupled with low manufacturing costs offered by Bajaj.

"The idea is to tap not only the domestic market in India but the countries in Asia, Africa as well as Latin America," Shoeb Farooq, General Manager, Triump Motorcyles, India, told Mint.

He added that work is going on the product development side and a commercial agreement will be reached between the two partners in the next three months. He said that Triump was aware of the huge vendor base that Bajaj Auto posesses and hence chose it for manufacturing the bike.

Although Triumph bikes are in premium scale but the collaboration with Bajaj will reduce the costs of motorcycles drastically and pose a threat to the Royal Enfield  undisputed leader in mid-capacity motorcycle market of India priced in the range of Rs 1.2 lakh-Rs 3 lakh. US-based Harley Davidson sells its bikes in the range of Rs 5-49 lakh in India, catering to a smaller market.

The partnership not only enables Triumph to compete with the premium motorcycle makers in Asian and African markets but also will help India-based Bajaj Auto to export mid and high capacity bikes to other countries for the first time.