In a joint statement in August, Triumph Motorcycles’ CEO Nick Bloor and Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj announced a non-equity global partnership to develop and sell a range of mid-capacity motorcycles.
The statement says that “we hope to bring to bear upon global markets the individual strengths of the partners, including brand position and perception, design and development technology, quality and cost competitiveness and worldwide distribution.
“This new global partnership will enable Triumph to significantly expand its global reach by entering new higher volume market segments, especially within the emerging markets across the world.
“Bajaj will gain access to the iconic Triumph brand and its great motorcycles, enabling it to offer a wider range of motorcycles within its domestic market and other international markets.
“Triumph and Bajaj are excited by the opportunities of this partnership and the prospect of entering new market segments, thereby reaching a whole new group of motorcyclists across the world”.
The news came just weeks after Bajaj, which owns 47.96 percent of KTM, announced a partnership with the Austrian manufacturer to take the Husqvarna brand global; Bajaj are also one of the leading contenders to buy Ducati from the Volkswagen Audi Group, should the board decide to go ahead with a sale process that saw initial bids tendered to VAG advisor Evercore in July.
Triumph currently builds around 65,000 motorcycles a year at its Hinckley, UK factory, employing around 2,000 people worldwide in total and selling through 700 dealers worldwide.
Bajaj Auto was founded in 1944, but the Bajaj Group can trace its origins back to 1926. In 2015, the Bajaj Group had a market capitalisation of around US$10 billion, making it India's 23rd largest publicly traded company by market value. Bajaj Auto employs around 8,000 people and is the world's sixth largest manufacturer of motorcycles, the second largest in India, and the largest exporter of the Indian two-wheeler manufacturers. Bajaj and Kawasaki ended a 33-year alliance in India in April this year – a move widely interpreted as signalling Rajiv Bajaj’s international as well as domestic ambitions.
