manufacturing

Norton Motorcycles invests in advanced new factory headquarters

Norton Motorcycles invests in advanced new factory headquarters in Solihull The Norton Motorcycle Co Ltd has moved to a new location in Solihull, West Midlands The new HQ will be a permanent base for all staff and incorporates state-of-the-art design, engineering, manufacturing and quality capabilities Opening of the newly fitted out factory comes after a multi-million pound investment from Norton’s new parent company, TVS Motor Company Commissioning is near completion and opening is expected in Q1 2021 Over 50 high quality, new jobs have already been created and more are expected to follow as the business activity grows providing a welcome boost to the local economy. The site in Solar Park, Solihull is the most advanced facility that Norton has ever had The Norton Motorcycle Co Ltd has announced that the company is moving to a new headquarters. The state-of-the-art production site located in Solihull, West Midlands, will open following a multi-million pound investment by Norton’s Indian parent company, TVS Motor Company. It will be the most advanced manufacturing facility in the 122-year-old motorcycle brand’s history. The premises will be the central hub for all of Norton operations, providing a permanent base for all staff. The new headquarters will be home to design, engineering, purchasing, sales, marketing, and support teams as well as the skilled production team that is resuming manufacture of motorcycles. Some of the specialist tooling and equipment previously used by Norton has been carried over to the new site in Solihull, but the site is benefiting from substantial new investment. The new manufacturing facility will make use of modern-day, quality-assured production processes. Skilled technicians will deploy bespoke bike building techniques and state-of-the-art new manufacturing equipment to ensure all bikes are built with great precision and quality, a hallmark of both Norton and TVS Motor Company. Norton will […]

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After Argentina, Indian Motorcycle Maker Royal Enfield To Set Up Assembly Unit In Thailand

by Swarajya Staff from https://swarajyamag.com Expanding its overseas operations, Indian motorcycle maker Royal Enfield is setting up an assembling plant in Thailand, reports Nikkei Asian Review. This would mark Royal Enfield’s second plant out of India, as it recently operationalised its first overseas factory in Argentina. The company aims to utilise the upcoming Thai plant as a hub to export to other nations in the ASEAN, including motorcycle-intensive markets like Indonesia and Vietnam. It should be noted that Thailand is Southeast Asia’s largest automobile manufacturer, and houses factories of some noted and global motorcycle majors like Honda, Yamaha and Harley-Davidson. The Royal Enfield factory in Thailand’s Chachoengsao province will be using at least 40 per cent of local parts while importing the rest from India. The facility is expected to start operations in April 2021. It should be noted that Royal Enfield has witnessed its 2019 year-on-year sales in Thailand more than double. It already has 36 showrooms in Thailand and is planning to expand with showrooms in Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia in the coming years.

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Harley-Davidson to shut sales and manufacturing operations in India

from https://indianexpress.com and https://www.reuters.com The announcement comes two months after Harley unveiled a strategy to shift focus back to more profitable motorcycles and core markets such as the United States. Harley-Davidson Inc said on Thursday it would discontinue its sales and manufacturing operations in India, effectively abandoning the world’s biggest motorcycle market after a decade of unsuccessful efforts to gain a foothold. Harley had spent recent months moving dealerships in the country to cheaper locations, and the announcement followed speculation in Indian media a month ago that executives had played down. The move involves $75 million in restructuring costs, some 70 redundancies and the closure of its Bawal plant, walking away from a market worth about 17 million bike and scooter sales a year. It will retain only a scaled-down sales office in Gurgaon, south of New Delhi. The departure is also the latest setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strategy to encourage domestic manufacturing that would keep more of the fruits of a gigantic home consumer market in India. Harley has been scrambling for years to grow sales beyond baby boomers in the United States and has not posted retail sales growth there in the past 14 quarters. Chief Executive Officer Jochen Zeitz, who took the reins at the company in February, unveiled a major “Rewire” in July to boost profits by reducing Harley’s product portfolio by 30% and investing in 50 markets with growth potential in North America, Europe and parts of Asia Pacific. India was one of the markets the company at that point committed to investing in more heavily. Thursday’s statement said the move to leave had been pushed through since Aug. 6. Harley said it now expects total restructuring costs of about $169 million in 2020, but warned that the restructuring program – referred to

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Three models of Royal Enfield motorcycles to be built in Argentina

from https://en.mercopress.com Royal Enfield, a classic English motorcycle brand but now belonging to an economic group from India opened on Tuesday its industrial complex in Campana, Argentina where it commenced the manufacturing of three models. The Campana factory in Argentina is the first country to make the motorcycle outside India with an investment of some US$ 80 million and the creation of 100 jobs. Besides the Indian company authorities, the inauguration counted with the attendance of Argentine president Alberto Fernández, the governor of Buenos Aires province, Axel Kicillof and the Development minister, Matias Kulfman, who also announced the government’s plan of soft credits for the purchase of the motorbikes in 48 installments at an interest rate half the estimated inflation. The Indian group in Argentina is represented by SIMPA, which also imports other world motorcycle brands, such as KTM, Husqvarna, Vespa, Aprilia, Piaggio, Moto Guzzi and Can-Am. Martin Shwartzm the Simpa group operations head said the three models which are to be built in the factory are the Interceptor and Continental GT (both 650cc) and the world famous double purpose Himalayan, with a 411cc engine. Although a percentage of the motorcycle parts are imported, the three models to be manufactured in Campana also have a percentage of Argentine parts. “This production development not only has created jobs but with the manufacture of parts in Argentina, allows for more accessible prices”, president Fernandez said. Royal Enfield to commence local assembly of three of its motorcycles in Argentina from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com Royal Enfield on Wednesday said it will commence local assembly of its motorcycles in Argentina in partnership with Grupo Simpa, its local distributor in the country since 2018. This will be the first time in Royal Enfield’s modern history that motorcycles will be assembled and produced outside the company’s manufacturing facilities in

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Harley plans to hitch a ride with two-wheeler makers

from Lijee Philip from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com Harley plans to hitch a ride with two-wheeler makers, Classic Legends, Hero Motocorp frontrunners Mahindra’s Classic Legends could be the obvious choice for the iconic leisure bike making company as it aligns very well with M&M’s approach of catering to the premium end of the market with marquee brands , and for Harley, it gets a local company with a large manufacturing facility and an established local supply chain. After its global restructuring efforts to make Thailand its main hub for Asia Pacific, Harley Davidson is now understood to be exploring potential collaborations with Indian two-wheeler makers. The two possible names doing the rounds are Mahindra NSE -0.82 %’ subsidiary Classic Legends and Hero Motocorp NSE -1.89 %. The potential Indian alliance partners could do contract manufacturing for Harley Davidson in the mid-size motorcycle space – in line with Bajaj-KTM or TVS-BMW. Mahindra’s Classic Legends could be the obvious choice for the iconic leisure bike making company as it aligns very well with M&M’s approach of catering to the premium end of the market with marquee brands , and for Harley, it gets a local company with a large manufacturing facility and an established local supply chain. Classic Legends was established to re-introduce iconic marquee motorcycle brands in the market and currently retails the Jawa motorcycle brand also owns iconic brands like BSA & Yezdi. While it started of with impressive sales numbers, delays in deliveries and quality issues makes it difficult for the company to meet the growing demand. Hero Motocorp has stated that it’s open to partnerships to get a stronger foothold in the premium segment. Market leaders in entry level/commuter and the 125cc segments, it lacks premium bike building capability. After several attempts, Hero has finally managed to break-into 200 cc segment

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Hero MotoCorp surpasses 25 million units landmark in cumulative production at Haridwar facility

from https://www.equitybulls.com Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, has crossed yet another milestone in its illustrious journey, with its manufacturing facility at Haridwar, in the northern Indian hill state of Uttarakhand achieving the unique distinction of surpassing 25 million units in cumulative production. The manufacturing facility, commissioned in April 2008, has achieved the milestone in just over 11 years of operation – an industry record. The Haridwar facility of Hero MotoCorp is also the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturing plant with an installed capacity to produce 9500 vehicles per day. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vikram Kasbekar, Executive Director (Operations) and Chief Technology Officer, Hero MotoCorp said, “This is a significant milestone for not just our Haridwar manufacturing plant, but also the entire organization. The manufacturing practices that we follow at Hero MotoCorp have always set new benchmarks in the industry. The production of 25 million two-wheelers at our Haridwar plant in such a short period of time since its commencement of operation bears testimony to the dedication and competency of the team. We are grateful to all our valued customers, partners, investors, the state government of Uttarakhand and all other stakeholders for their continued support and faith in us..” Keeping Hero MotoCorp’s focus on sustainability, the Haridwar manufacturing facility has the world’s largest green-roof, spread over 4500 sq. mtr. The plant produces 1.95 MW of solar power, has zero liquid discharge and a lake for rain water harvesting. The plant produces Hero MotoCorp’s popular motorcycles – HF Deluxe, Splendor+, Splendor iSmart 110, Passion Pro and Passion 110. With a robust supply chain, it sources 75% (in value) of the parts from industries within Uttarakhand. Hero MotoCorp currently has seven globally benchmarked manufacturing facilities, including five in India and one each in Bangladesh and Colombia. The plants

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Bajaj made Triumph motorcycles launch in 2022 – Will also be exported

by Nithyanandh Karupp from https://www.rushlane.com Could be called Bajaj Avenger 400 / 500 upon launch in India. Over the years, Bajaj Auto has created a solid export operation which has proved to be quite useful when the domestic market undergoes a rough patch such as the ongoing one. About 40% of Bajaj Auto’s production is shipped out of the country to around 80 markets worldwide. With its partnership with British sportsbike brand Triumph, Bajaj is looking to further improve those export statistics. The Pune-based two wheeler maker had announced a non-equity partnership with Triumph Motorcycles in August 2017 and is currently in the process of finalizing the finer details of the agreement. Things should start materializing from end-2019 and we are expecting the first product to be born out of this partnership to be ready in the next 3 years. Bajaj will take the responsibility of manufacturing the products at its facility in a cost effective manner while its British partner will be in charge of engineering and development. Needless to say, the platforms developed under this partnership will spawn both Bajaj and Triumph branded motorcycles. The made-by-Bajaj Triumph compact displacement motorcycles will be exported to several markets including the US, Europe and Japan. This was revealed by Rajiv Bajaj at a recent event in Delhi. With small displacement sportsbike segment steadily gaining popularity across the world, adding Triumph to its production portfolio is expected to boost Bajaj’s already strong export operations significantly. Details regarding body styles and displacements of Bajaj-Triumph products are still under wraps but expect them cater to sub-500cc category. With the KTM Duke and RC ranges, Bajaj Auto has successfully demonstrated its capability to manufacture compact premium motorcycles that can hold their own in international markets. With well established vendor base and know-how of premium product

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From Lawnmower to Rocket Engines, Here’s What Else Harley-Davidson Used to Make

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com For decades, one of the heavyweights of the motorcycle industry has been Harley-Davidson. The behemoth established itself as one of the leaders in motorcycling manufacturing, and is now planning an expansion more ambitious than ever before. Over the years though, it tried its luck in other industries as well. Established in 1903, the company fought to make a name for itself including in areas like commercial transportation and military hardware. Most of these attempts are now long-dead, but this week Harley decided its time for a brief history lesson into five of the products few still know it used to make. In its second decade, from 1913 to 1915, Harley went for the commercial delivery sector with a vehicle called Forecar. Powered by a twin-cylinder chain drive motorcycle engine, the vehicle was a three-wheeler that featured a delivery box over two front wheels. It was capable of carrying a load weighing up to 600 pounds, mostly mail and groceries. From 1929, people began mowing their lawns with Worthington machines powered by Harley engines. This collaboration went bust too soon after the Great Depression. At the beginning of the 1960s, Harley bought Tomahawk Boats because it needed access to the company’s fiberglass manufacturing capability. For a short time, it also made boats, then decided to shut this side business down. In 1969, a three-wheeled vehicle named Utilicar was introduced to act as support for manufacturing processes in factories. It was made with two powertrains, one electric and one running on gasoline, that were to be used inside and outside factory buildings, respectively. By far the most exciting product made decades ago by Harley is a small rocket engine that was deployed by the U.S. Army on target drones. These drones were used to simulate incoming intercontinental

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No silver bullet in sight for Enfield hit by sliding volume

The Eicher Motors stock fell 30 per cent in the past year. The Bullet, it appears, is just not firing on all cylinders at the moment. Royal Enfield (RE) sales are rather soft, and state-wise volume statistics furnished by industry body SIAM show that the bike that defines panache for motorcycle enthusiasts in India is riding through a rather rough patch. Eight states that make up three of every five RE bikes sold locally have reported deceleration. Maharashtra and Karnataka together account for 13 per cent of RE volumes, and these two states have seen a drop in 6-7 quarters of the past nine. Kerala, the largest market of RE, has witnessed volume drops of 13 per cent and 23 per cent in the September and December quarters, respectively. The September decline is attributed to floods. But declines in the December quarter have put the lens on underlying demand. Industry volume growth of twowheelers in south India was 9.5 per cent in the first nine months, up from 5.6 per cent in the previous year. However, RE’s sales volume growth in the Southern states has been underwhelming. The RE management has given production guidance of 8.7-8.8 lakh units for the current fiscal year. However, it is unlikely to be met. Average monthly run-rate of RE in the first 11months of FY19 stood at 69,569 units. To achieve the stated guidance, the company needs to produce 1.04 lakh vehicles in March. This appears to be quite a daunting task given the weak demand cycle. The Street is factoring in volume growth of 10 per cent for FY20, which could be trimmed due to about 3 per cent growth in FY19. The Eicher Motors stock fell 30 per cent in the past year following constant negative surprises on the volume front. The

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Is ELIO for real?

We make an in-depth exploration of Elio Motors trike by Wayfarer@bikernet.com Founder Paul Elio wanted to fight the increasing prices of both consumer vehicles and fuel. At the same time he wanted a practical and reliable vehicle that would be very affordable and give lots of miles per gallon. His dream didn’t end there. This magical vehicle had to be ALL-AMERICAN. It had to be completely made in America, employing Americans as an American revolution in travel and automotive industry. The design, the manufacturing, the marketing – the people will be Americans and the target market is America. CLICK HERE to read about the concept called Elio Motors.

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