TVS Motor's new Victor to take on Honda's Livo in 110cc class

TVS Motor Company launched the 110cc commuter motorcycle Victor with a starting price-tag of Rs 49,188 (ex-showroom, Maharashtra) in Pune today. The model is equipped with conventional drum brakes. The disc brake variant is priced at Rs 51,188 (ex-showroom, Maharashtra).

The popular Victor model, which was originally launched by the company in 2002, now gets upgraded with a number of new value-for-money features in line with the growing benchmarks in the commuter bike segment. These include the company patented 3-valve Ecothrust engine technology, petal disc brake and 60W high intensity headlamp, tubeless tyres, wide seat and modern styling.

According to the company, the 110cc engine with Ecothrust technology develops peak power output of 9.46bhp without compromising on its fuel economy of 76kpl (under ideal conditions).

Talking about the company's plans, Arun Siddharth, head of marketing, TVS Motor Co, said: “We have been working on a number of areas all this while. On the quality front, we have been recognised by JD Power recently. With a known name (Victor) in the family motorcycle segment, we are expecting to garner a bigger market share in the coming months. With Victor positioned in the family segment and TVS Star and Sport positioned in the executive and budget categories respectively,  we believe that now our portfolio of commuter motorcycles is complete. We hope that the three different models deliver expected results to us."

The company release mentions that the original Victor, when launched in 2002, received a good response from the market, selling more than 40,000 units a month at its peak.

Although the company spokesperson refused to speak to the media at the event, it is clear that TVS Motor is hoping to clock at least more than 40,000 units of the new Victor per month, a sales number very close to Bajaj Auto's CT100's February 2016 sales.

Currently, the XL Super moped and the 110cc Jupiter scooter are the best-selling models from TVS.

The new 110cc TVS Victor will primarily take on rivals such as Hero MotoCorp's 110cc Passion variants (Passion XPro), Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI)'s Livo, and Dream series, and will compete with Mahindra Two Wheelers' 107cc Centuro variants and Suzuki Motorcycle India's 113cc Hayate models in select markets.

Interestingly, Bajaj Auto and India Yamaha Motor currently do not contest in the 110cc commuter motorcycle category which, along with the 100cc class, account for the largest segment in the Indian motorcycle industry.

For February 2016, the category of commuter motorcycles with engine displacement in the range of 75cc-110cc clocked sales of more than 500,000 units, accounting for more than 37 percent of the total two-wheeler sales of over 13.62 lakh units. While this category is witnessing a number of new buyers purchasing fuel efficient motorcycles, a large number of existing owners are shifting towards bigger displacement such as 125cc and 150cc classes, say industry analysts.

TVS Motor's charge at the most affordable end of motorcycles is led by 100cc TVS Sport and 110cc TVS Star City and new Victor. The company also has TVS Phoenix 125 in the executive commuter motorcycle category.

Recommended: Top 10 two-wheelers sold in February 2016