The promise of the Phoenix revealed

TVS Motor Co’s new 125cc bike with the Eco-Thrust engine promises plenty but can it take on its aggressive competitors and give it some shine?

TVS Motor Company plans to introduce four new models before the end of 2013, with launches scheduled for every quarter from this one onwards. This is part of its strategy drawn up by the company to regain some lost ground in the two-wheeler market and is part of a plan to eventually reduce the number of parts it requires across its product range by 40 percent over a four-year period. Of the four new models, two are likely to be scooters. The erstwhile bestseller Victor will make a comeback and be launched in August 2013, with production slated to begin in June. K N Radhakrishnan, president and CEO of TVS Motor, says the Victor will stick to its original brief and will be placed in the ‘economy’ segment. He also brushed aside rumours by stating clearly that 180cc will be the maximum category, as of now.

It is no secret that the one-time market leader has lost a major portion of its market share. The voxpopuli is that the South-based company has not concentrated as much as its competitors have on both technology and marketing. The 110cc Jive, for instance, was a technological marvel bringing the clutchless two-wheeler to the Indian consumer. However, by the chairman’s own admission, the Jive was “an experiment that failed.” Conversely, with a fresh product offensive and a clear intention to cut product costs, the company seems keen to go all out to regain its share of the pie. Its latest launch, the Phoenix 125, has all the makings of a winner. A whole new engine called the Eco-Thrust makes its debut with the Phoenix, producing 10.9bhp at 8000rpm with maximum torque nudging 1.1kgm at 6000rpm. Vinay Harne, president of TVS’ R&D division, says a lot of effort went into making the Phoenix rugged, stylish and economical and “the bike passed up to 561 rigorous tests.” At 94bhp per tonne, the bike has the highest power-to-weight ratio in its segment and gives a mileage of 67kpl in standard tests.

Positioned at the top end of a segment that includes the Honda Shine and newcomer Bajaj Discover 125ST, the company has targeted a sale of around 20,000 units initially in the domestic market, with exports a good four to five months away. Addressing a press conference for the launch of the Phoenix in Chennai last fortnight, Venu Srinivasan, chairman, TVS Group, said that the project cost Rs 50 crore, with the brief for the product development team being “to package a vehicle giving 15 to 20 percent better value.”

Asked if TVS had reacted rather late to the loss in marketshare, Srinivasan notes that the experience with the Jive was only an experiment. Explaining his stance, Srinivasan says, “The disconnect for the Jive came from two ends. One was that the bike saw multiple users within the same family and as the technology around the clutch was complex, it resulted in a loss of mileage by around five percent.”

The Phoenix isn’t the first attempt by the company to fill the 125cc gap in its portfolio. One of its earliest attempts was the Victor GLX. Quick on its heels was the Flame, which saw the company get into a legal tangle with Bajaj Auto on patent issues.

Srinivasan says the company is banking on the Phoenix to regain some share in the market. “We have around 13 percent share now and are targeting 17-18 percent by the end of this fiscal,” he says.

"Apart from the four new products, TVS Motor will also reduce the number of motorcycle platforms to two from the current four,” Srinivasan says.

Talking about exporting the Phoenix, Srinivasan says, “Exports require some modifications with respect to styling as usage patterns vary from country to country. We will initially take it to 50 countries. This should happen by January.” He also adds that experiences in other countries will have its effects in India, saying, “Quality and capability from our team in Indonesia will be seen soon in India.”

TVS Motor entered Indonesia back in 2007 and its product portfolio for the South-East Asian country includes the Apache RTR 160 and RTR 180, Tormax 150, Neo XR (110cc) and Rockz New (125cc). While the two variants of the Apache are quite similar to the Indian versions, the other three are step-over scooters.

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INTERVIEW WITH VINAY HARNE, PRESIDENT (R&D), TVS MOTOR

What exactly is the Eco-Thrust engine and what are its highlights? How differently did TVS approach this engine?

The Eco-Thrust is an all-new engine developed for the Phoenix 125. The engine has been dynamically tuned to regulate the flow of petrol so that an optimum combination of power and fuel economy is delivered.

The overall optimisation was achieved through combustion improvement, flow improvement and friction reduction. This has helped delivery of superior pickup with very high fuel economy. The engine delivers high levels of torque at slow speeds that makes riding in city conditions very comfortable.

How long was the Phoenix project in the making? The product took 18 months to develop. We have used digital human simulator-based testing for this product and that helped in achieving best-in-class ride comfort and handling. This product has passed as many as 561 rigorous tests.

Which are the parts that TVS plans to cut by 40 percent in four years? How do you plan to consolidate the supply chain?

We have multiple platforms, so one of the key thrust areas is to reduce the number of platforms to just two or three. This will bring down the number of parts and thereby improve quality and reliability. The platform families will have enough flexibility to move up and down the range in terms of new engine variants, styling and other trimmings. The idea is to work on two or three of these platform families that would share enough parts to make product development faster and more cost effective.

What is the overall growth plan and can you tell us in which segments will the four new products come?

All I can say now is that the new products will be in various segments of the two- wheeler market.

How big a market is Indonesia for TVS?

Indonesia is a fairly large market and a very different from India. It is currently dominated by skubeck, which is similar to our scooters. We don’t have a product in this category in Indonesia. We plan to launch one next year. We currently have the Neo and Apache series and both have been accepted well in Indonesia.

AMIT PANDAY