More than two years since the two brands first confirmed a rare collaboration, the Bajaj-Triumph collaboration hasn’t resulted in a production model.
And if recent reports are anything to go by, it seems like the project is yet to reach the development stage.
Recently there were reports that the project’s deadlines have been pushed by two years and will now be launched only in 2023.
With the growing market in 400cc to 700 cc, both these brands wanted to utilise their capabilities in Asia and globally.
Bajaj is already a dominant player in Asia, and Triumph being an Iconic British brand. The partnership will bring some new flavours of motorcycles to the Asian Market.
Analysts believe the alliance will help enhance the overall portfolio of Bajaj Auto. It does mean Bajaj missed a solid brand in the “easy riding” or cruiser bike space.
November 2019
Further, in November 2019, we saw more about these two motorcycle brands.
We get to know from Auto Economictimes that Triumph already tested the few lower displacement motorcycles prototypes under this partnership.
Steve Sargent, Chief Product Officer, Triumph, had said in the recent EICMA that “We haven’t slowed down on our cooperation on product development”.
Delay to formalise the agreement has not changed the focus of both Bajaj and Triumph. Before few days, Rajiv Bajaj had been to the UK to see how the prototypes work.
What do we see here?
It is easier to see how Triumph can make its footprint in the Asian market for lower displacement motorcycles using India as a hub and Bajaj partner.
Triumph earlier tried to enter the Asian market with 250cc. However, it did not work well.
Bajaj motorcycles will manufacture, and Triumph will be responsible for marketing to keep the cost low.
The plan is to develop multiple motorcycles on a single new platform that helps cater to various flavours for people interested in buying lower displacement motorcycles.
These motorcycles will be released by 2022 and compete with Royal Enfield motorcycles with a larger share in the Indian market. However, due to pandemic, we may see a delay.
Recent quote
Bajaj Auto executive director Rakesh Sharma said.
“We are in the (product development) stage, where we have made prototypes, and these require physical presence to make corrections, if needed,” . This whole process takes time. The partnership got hit because of COVID.”
Recent News
Recently the next generation 250cc Bajaj Pulsar was spotted. The latest news to bring the lower displacement motorcycles Triumph will loan the motor from next-generation Bajaj Pulsar.
And instead of a liquid engine, Bajaj will develop the air cool engine. At the same time, both have their advantages and disadvantages.
We focus on what are the advantages of air cool motors.
- Air-cooled engines are compact. They are more fuel-efficient and has less production cost.
- On the other hand, the maintenance cost of air-cooled engines is more compared to the liquid-cooled ones.
The second good reason well, it wasn’t logical for Bajaj to develop the all-new platform.
However, we see Triumph may build the aesthetics and the body, which will be entirely different from traditional Bajaj motorcycle bodies.
There will be more news coming on this beautiful collaboration.
