Bajaj-Triumph Models Expected Soon

[advrider]

Are you ready for a made-in-India Triumph? According to the moto-press in that country, it’s only a matter of months, maybe weeks, until we finally see that happen, as the long-awaited relationship between Bajaj and Triumph prepares to show off its first motorcycles.

At least, that’s the claim, and we’d expect those bikes to appear on this year’s show circuit.

A long wait

The first confirmation of the Bajaj-Triumph collaboration came all the way back in… 2017. Whoa. This is a deal that’s been five years in the making, although to be fair, half of those five years were under the shadow of COVID-19, which definitely makes a dent in the timeline.

Back then, Bajaj said “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.” It’s kind of a you-scratch-my-back, I’ll-scratch-yours deal. Bajaj gets to benefit from association with Triumph, a much-respected name in India. Triumph gets access to Bajaj’s cheap workforce, and a back door into the booming Indian market.

Although Bajaj isn’t a well-known name in North America, it’s certainly a giant in India, and is well-known for holding a huge chunk (almost 50 percent) of KTM’s ownership. Bajaj also manufacturers machines for KTM in India, so it knows how to build bigger bikes, not just the 150-class machines that dominate the sub-continent.

At this point, insiders expect the Bajaj-Triumph team-up to result in a small-cc roadster and scrambler around 250cc.

Not the first time

This isn’t the first time Triumph has tried to sell a made-in-India machine. Around 2011, Triumph was working on a made-in-India 250-class bike, but canceled the bike after a few months of R&D, saying it wouldn’t be economocally viable. That might have been because the 250 class was quickly becoming the 300 class, then the 400 class, back then. If Triumph’s design at that time wasn’t easily big-bored, it would have been left behind.

But now? There’s suddenly market space for a 250, with demand sky-high and dealers scrambling for product. And Triumph could easily sell piles of these bikes in Asia, without even attempting to entice jaded Euro, Brit and North American customers (although it almost certainly will do just that).

Supposedly, there will be larger machines coming after the initial launch, perhaps in the 350-400 range. The first bikes will have single-cylinder engines, but the next machines may be twins—we haven’t seen many details on those yet.

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