TVS Motors began their journey of premium two wheelers on the road in 1982. But, it became popular in 2005 with 150 cc bike TVS Apache.
And since then, it is primarily gaining pace and with the recently acquired British legacy band Norton, and a high end 200 cc brand called Zeppelin on the launch pad, it has created a boom in the market.
Company says, this down time provoked by Corona pandemic will not change their strategy. Bikes costing more than 80,000 usually referred as Premium bikes now consider for more than 25 percent that is 14 percent more than that of seven years ago.
Not to mention, but incomes are punished due to this pandemic, but most marketers consider this to be temporary. In fact, demand of automobiles, mobiles is already increased.
For TVS, the premium push picked up speed in April this year when it acquired Norton for 16 million i.e., Rs. 153.12 Crore. This British sporting motorbike brand is expected to give TVS the classic racing buyer segment. 102 years old brand Norton is especially dedicated to customer base in many countries, and with the target segment of 850-1200 cc, that is much powerful and presently not comparable to anything that exists in Indian market today.
Joint Managing Director of TVS, Sudarshan Venu said, “The Norton acquisition is in line with our effort to cater to the aspirations of discerning motorcycle customers. The immediate focus will be on the 21 developed markets in which Norton is already present, after which TVS will look to expand to some key developing markets such as India.”
Talking about TVS Apache series, TVS’s most reliable model has the market share of around 23 percent in the premium motorcycle category, with around 3.5 million customers, mentioned company’s spokesperson. Company claims TVS Apache RR310 (Rs. 2,44,799) is based on the BMW platform and it is one of the most reliable and successful products in both domestic and export markets.
Analysts say, TVS is the only player, other than Royal Enfield, that launched products in the premium segment.
Source- Business standard
