American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 251 June 2020 | Page 21

Norton production was based in a former airline call centre in a two-storey
office block in the car park behind Donington Hall.
Director, TVS Motor Company, said:
"This is a momentous time for us at
TVS Motor Company. Norton is an
iconic British brand celebrated across
the world and presents us with an
immense opportunity. This transaction
is in line with our effort to cater to the
aspirations of discerning motorcycle
customers.
We will extend our full support for
Norton to regain its full glory in the
international motorcycle landscape.
Norton will continue to retain its
distinctive identity with dedicated and
specific business plans."
TVS is India's third largest motorcycle
manufacturer by volume, and this deal
brings them toe-to-toe with Eicher
Motors, whose UK/USA bred Royal
Enfield Interceptor 650 parallel twins
are being very well received in Europe
and North America; and with India's
number two, Bajaj Auto, as they eye a
future rich with Triumph branded
opportunity.
Mahindra and Mahindra, a fourth of
India's big five major PTW players,
recently converted its 49% stake in the
equally storied Peugeot Scooters and
Peugeot Motorcycles operations into a
100% ownership position.
Hero is the fifth major Indian
motorcycle maker and probably best
known to AMD readers for its stillborn
acquisition of Erik Buell Racing.
Mahindra has also been on the brand
acquisition trail in recent years and are
producing small cc BSA road bikes and
Jawa retro off-roaders for the Indian
market.
With the Indian Government set to
enforce a non-internal combustion
engine future on Indian consumers
before too long, it is no wonder that
India's majors are eyeing
opportunities in Europe and USA.
Indeed, Mahindra already has
manufacturing in USA, near Detroit,
where it is making ROXOR branded
UTVs.
Going back to quite what plans TVS
says it has for Norton, its acquisition
press release went on to state that it
was "excited about the existing and
upcoming products at Norton
Motorcycles, including Commando,
Dominator and V4 RR. Confident of
the strong synergy between both the
www.AMDchampionship.com
brands, we believe that Norton
Motorcycles can leverage TVS Motor
Company's global reach and supply
chain capabilities to expand to new
markets."
However, no mention was made of the
Atlas Nomad or Ranger, the Riccardo
designed 650 or the "Design and
License" deal with Zongshen.
Part of the $8.5bn 1911 founded TVS
Group, TVS Motor Company is the
largest group subsidiary, with
revenues of around US$2.9bn, an
annual sale of more than three million
units and reputed capacity for over
four million two and three-wheeled
vehicles. TVS Motor is also India's
second largest exporter with sales in
over 60 countries worldwide.
The company has four manufacturing
plants, three located in India (Hosur in
Tamil Nadu, Mysore in Karnataka and
Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh) and
one in Indonesia at Karawang.
As this edition of AMD went to press,
TVS had added some more flesh to the
bones of the deal, confirming that, at
least for the short-term, production
will stay in the UK, with ex Harley-
Davidson Europe Managing Director
and VP (1998 - 2007) John Russell
appointed as interim CEO.
Venu is quoted as saying that "we are
taking over all the Norton employees
except for a few of the remaining old
management" and that operations
will continue at Donington Hall in the
short term, before transferring
elsewhere in the vicinity.
"The strong design and assembly
team is coming over to us, and we will
look to leverage their strength and
work with them to deliver more bikes
of this storied brand. We will move to
another new location very soon. The
idea is to continue with this very
talented team to get the brand back to
its original glory and take it into the
future."
However, the speculation is that any
serious volume production of
lightweights and middleweights
would be best sited at its facilities in
India and that the UK will be an R&D
and limited assembly and specials
facility, much as Triumph's Hinckley,
UK facility now is, with all its volume
production now in Thailand.
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