TVS Motor, the flagship company of the $4-billion TVS Group, will launch its premium 160cc bike Apache RTR in the US this year, the world’s most developed automobile market. If TVS Motors enters the US, it will be the second indigenous company to foray into that market, the first being Royal Enfield bike. Another Indian company, utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra also plans to introduce its flagship Scorpio SUV in the US next year.
The company will start shipping bikes in the next few months. TVS is not expecting big volumes, but looking at high brand leverage in the US, a predominant high-end big bike market like the Triumph, Harley Davidson, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha.
America is a small market for two-wheelers with a few lakh units being sold every year and even that is being cornered by bigger bikes. TVS is expecting to sell a few thousand bikes in the first year, but this will boost its bottomline, as profit margins are much higher in the overseas markets.
TVS Motors has presence in a few overseas markets, including a 300,000 units a year manufacturing facility in Indonesia, and also sells its bikes, scooters and mopeds in Latin America, South-East Asia and Africa. The US is amongst the top 10 two-wheeler markets in the world with China the largest followed by India, with over 70 lakh two-wheelers sold every year.
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