UK-based Norton Motorcycle Company has announced a joint venture partnership with Motoroyale, which is a sub-brand of the Kinetic Group. This partnership will mark the official debut of Norton motorcycles in the Indian market. Initially, bikes from the Norton brand will be imported as completely built units (CBUs), while local assembly is expected to commence from the end of 2018. Norton is said to have put aside around $10 million for its India project.
The said joint venture is a 51:49 split partnership between Motoroyale and Norton Motorcycles, respectively. In addition to the Indian market, Motoroyale will also be taking care of sales, service and manufacturing of Norton-branded motorcycles in the ASEAN markets. Under the agreement, Motoroyale will provide all manufacturing, localisation and homologation support to Norton Motorcycles, which in-turn will be responsible for the design and engineering of bikes.
Being a niche brand, Norton Motorcycles hasn’t set any aggressive targets for the Indian market. The company is expecting to sell around 2,000 units of its bikes in the country in the next couple of years. However, once local assembly operations commence, Norton will extend this target to around 5,000 units per year.
The first few models that will be launched in India under the Norton brand name will include the limited edition Commando, the Commando 961 Sport & Cafe Racer, Dominator Sport and DomiRacer. The company is also said to be working on a 650-cc, twin-cylinder motorcycle for the developed markets, which is expected to be launched in India sometime in 2020.
Since an official announcement has already been made, we expect Norton and Motoroyale to set up a stall at the upcoming 2018 Auto Expo in Greater Noida. It remains to be seen whether the companies also take advantage of the India Bike Week that will commence from the coming weekend to do some marketing with cult motorcycle fans of the country.