Premium motorcycle brands joining hands with our homegrown manufacturers isn’t a new thing for us and we have witnessed many examples of such interesting joint ventures in the past as well. But when we talk about recent times, the partnership between Bajaj and Triumph seems to be the most interesting one and has built quite some hype around it. Back in 2017, Bajaj and triumph announced that they will be working together to develop motorcycles under the 200-700 cc segment. It was expected that the motorcycle will hit the showrooms in the 2020-2022 time frame.
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But in a recent interview, Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto, has confirmed that the Bajaj-Triumph project has been delayed. It’s now likely that the first Triumph motorcycle from this partnership will make its global debut in 2023, instead of 2022 as was announced.
However, Bajaj also added that they are working hard and if the market improves rapidly in 2021, they still might be able to make the 2022 deadline. During the start of 2020, it was announced that the first motorcycle out of their partnership will hit the streets in 2022 and will displace anywhere between 250-350 cc. Bajaj won’t be launching the motorcycle under its own tag but will assist Triumph in manufacturing the motorcycle at their plant in Akurdi, Pune. That means the upcoming motorcycle will bear the tag of either Street, Bonneville or Tiger.
Triumph has made it very clear that Bajaj will only manufacture Triumph motorcycles and their won’t be any Bajaj derivative based on the same platform. The bikes will be designed and developed by Triumph in the United Kingdom, while Bajaj will produce the bikes in India using its expertise in cost-effective manufacturing. Going by the current market trend, it is being assumed that the first motorcycle to take birth from this partnership is going to be a 250-350cc single-cylinder retro-styled machine to rival the supremacy of Royal Enfield. It has already been announced that the first motorcycle from this partnership will be priced under INR 2 lakh!
Bajaj’s new plant in Chakan
Bajaj Auto recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Maharashtra to set-up a new manufacturing facility in Chakan. According to reports, Bajaj will be investing around INR 650 Crore in setting up the new plant, which should be fully functional by 2023. And we expect the new Triumph motorcycles to get assembled in the same facility.
