International Dealer News IDN 155 June/July 2020 | Page 18

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pre-production prototype Atlas
models at Motorcycle Live in the UK -
the Atlas Nomad and (Superlight)
Ranger - a pair of 650 cc parallel twin
Scrambler-esque naked Roadsters
built around half of the engine for the
V4 Superbike that Norton had been
pimping - and nobody has been
talking much about the Zongshen
deal ever since.
In fact, Zongshen has been showing
its version of the theoretically Ricardo
designed 650 (the ZS 650 seen here)
along with an 850 cc version (ZS 850)
it has also developed, and design
drawings of two new models using
the engines that bear the Zongshen
name (an RX6 Adventure and RK6
Tourer) have been circulating on the
internet in China since last year.
However, there has been no mention
as to whether or not any royalties will
be headed the way of Norton's
creditors, Ricardo, or into a TVS
Stuart Garner's 12 years of Norton
hubris probably reached its pinnacle
with the way over-ambitious, illfated
and short lived hiring of
legendary ex Ducati designer Pierre
Terblanche in 2011, seen here at the
time, left, with Stuart Garner.
Terblanche fled the scene pretty
quickly - fortunately with his
reputation intact.
Norton iteration bank account any
time soon.
It was only two weeks after Garner's
trip to China to sign the Jinlang deal
(in January this year) that Norton filed
for bankruptcy in the UK.
So far it hasn't been disclosed what
has happened to the undisclosed sum
of money that Jinlang paid Garner for
the 961, or who now, in theory, owns
rights to the Ricardo/Zongshen 650.
This is not the first attempt TVS has
made to "scale globally" - some years
ago TVS theoretically entered into a
deal with Triumph to take on
manufacturing of lightweight and
middleweight machines for the Asian
market.
That came to nothing, and Triumph,
who had themselves been forced to
emphatically deny any interest in
acquiring the Norton name earlier this
year, is now in a non-equity
sweetheart deal for lightweights and
middleweights that will be for global
sale with TVS rival and 50% KTM
owner Bajaj Auto.
For its part, TVS is talking a positive
game and doesn't appear to have any
doubts about the 'value' that the
Norton name can, eventually, bring to
its table.
Commenting on the acquisition, Mr.
Sudarshan Venu, Joint Managing
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.
Then there is Mahindra and Mahindra,
the fourth of India's big five major
PTW players, who recently converted
its 49% stake in the equally storied
Peugeot Scooters into a 100%
ownership position in the business
now known as Peugeot Motorcycles -
speculation is rife as to what
Mahindra intends to do in Europe and
North America with the JAWA and
BSA brands that they own, with
lightweights under those names
already being made and sold in India
for some time.
Hero is the fifth major Indian
motorcycle maker and probably best
known in European terms for stalled
efforts to launch bikes here some
years ago and for its stillborn
acquisition of Erik Buell Racing.
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
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, and some
observers are on record as thinking it
unlikely that the V4 RR will continue -
at least for the near to mid-term.
Part of the $8.5bn TVS Group (which
has its origins back 1911), TVS Motor
Company is the largest group
subsidiary and has revenues of around
US$2.9bn, with an annual sale of
more than three million PTW units and
reputed capacity for over four million
two and three-wheeled vehicles. TVS
Motor Company 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.
Since the initial announcement of its
acquisition, TVS confirmed 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
a 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
Zongshen has been showing its
version of a Ricardo designed 650 cc
parallel twin (and an 850 cc version)
that Norton licensed to them in
2017, and drawings of new
Adventure (RX6) and Tourer (RK6)
models using the engine have been
circulating on the internet in China
since early 2019.
A rendering of the Ricardo designed
650 that Garner licenced to
Zongshen in 2017.
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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