Triumph Motorcycles banks on 5-pronged India growth strategy

British bike maker believes its five-point growth mantra for its portfolio spanning five categories will help it ride to the top in the Indian big-bike market. Amit Panday reveals the game-plan.

Triumph Motorcycles is, like other premium bike makers, bullish on the Indian market. The company began commercial sales in India in April 2014. The entry of this iconic British brand in the Indian market, which was till then largely restricted to heavy cruisers and track-focused, fully-faired, litre-class sports bikes as the two most popular categories, exposed professional and seasoned riders to several new genres of motorcycling.

This included the modern classics, roadsters or naked streets, adventure tourers and others. The company’s strategy was very clear – to cater to a varied range of riders while creating new categories in the premium bike market.

Within three years, Triumph Motorcycles has become one of the leading premium motorcycle brands in India and is firmly positioned in the top three. Besides offering a wide portfolio of big bikes, the company achieved this scale thanks to quick penetration through its retail network across the country. It currently has a network of 16 dealerships, all fully equipped to provide aftersales services. Nine of these dealerships are situated across Tier 1 and 2 towns, says Vimal Sumbly, managing director, Triumph Motorcycles India. “We are planning to have 25 dealerships by 2022,” he reveals, looking into the near future.

Talking to Autocar Professional on the sidelines of the launch of the Street Triple S in Pune on June 23, Sumbly highlighted Triumph’s five-point growth strategy. “Our growth strategy is based on five pillars – brand and technology, dealership and aftersales network, local assembly via CKD in India, training to riders (at the Triumph Tiger Training Academy and California Superbike School) and affordability of our products (through finance schemes).”

“We are very confident that these steps will help us achieve our ambition, which is to become the fastest growing premium motorcycle brand in India. 

 We are close to the top spot (in the big-bike segment) and we want to be there in near future,” he clarifed.

CHANGING RULES OF THE GAME
The company is working to continuously increase engagement with its existing and potential customers. It had recently organised the Triumph Tiger Trail ride to celebrate its 750 customers of Tiger bikes (adventure touring models). The carefully organised mapped-ride deep into the Himachal Pradesh offered real-time training sessions for adventure biking beyond the controlled setup of the man-made tracks.

“We are now working to bring curated rides, which are called as explore India on two wheels. For instance, we just did the Tiger Trails in the Himalayas where we got 10 customers riding together in the Himalayan trails. Similarly, we plan a coffee and spice ride in the south. I believe that these rides will bring the customers together,” he mentioned. 

According to Sumbly, who is a bike enthusiast, the rules of driving the market are changing. He strongly believes that the weekend rides regularly conducted at the various dealerships across India are now becoming a substantial platform for Triumph’s premium customers to bond and network with each other.

The company is now looking at promoting its merchandise, a lucrative vertical for almost all superbike companies in India, and is also paying attention to help its customers with friendly financing schemes.

Speaking in this context, Triumph India’s top boss elaborated, “Yes, we are looking at Triumph merchandise and we are also bringing financing options for our customers. We have tied up with HDFC Bank for seven-year finance, which for the first time is available on buying a motorcycle. Until now the seven-year financing schemes were available only for passenger cars. Through these customer friendly financing schemes we are making our motorcycles more affordable.”

“We are also venturing into the second-hand two-wheeler finance and have tied up with a Pune-based company called Wheels EMI. The pilot project will run in Pune,” he cited disclosing this premium brand’s foray into an unexplored vertical.

Overall, Triumph is well placed for a good ride in the Indian premium motorcycle market. With 433 units sold in the first quarter of FY2018, it is now looking to steer fast-paced growth its way. 

Also read: Triumph Motorcycles & Bajaj Auto join hands to target global midsize motorcycle market

(This feature was first published in the July 15, 2017 print edition of Autocar Professional)