Triumph confirms sales kick-off in India

Rumours of Triumph Motorcycles' impending on-sale date in the massive Indian market have been rife in recent weeks, but the British company has now confirmed it will begin selling its bikes there in November.

Triumph has also appointed a new head of its Indian operations, with Vimal Sumbly coming across from from Bajaj Auto Ltd, a major Indian motorcycle and scooter manufacturer that currently works in partnership with Austrian marque KTM.

Triumph India’s unveiling at the 2012 Indian Auto Expo was heralded with much fanfare, but since then the distributor has kept a relatively low profile as Triumph UK ponders its best approach to marketing its products in India.

According to Triumph's Director for Sales and Marketing, Paul Stroud, the time is right for the marque's push into the world's second-most-populous country. "The year 2013 is a
very crucial year for Triumph Motorcycles in India and as a company we
are confident about the timing of our market entry," he said.

As previously reported, Triumph will assemble some models from components at an assembly plant in Manesar, near New Dehli, while work continues at the firm's major new production facility at Narsapura, near Bangalore. Assembling some models from parts is a far more cost-effective and timely way for Triumph to get its models into Indian showrooms, compared to imported

Autocar India says the marque will initially import components for some of its models for assembly at a factory it has set up in Manesar – a completely different operation to the major plant the British company is establishing at Narsapura in South India. This method represents a far cheaper and faster way of getting its bikes to the showroom as opposed to importing complete models, which would attract hefty import tariffs.