Triumph has teased it will soon provide more details about its forthcoming new range of smaller capacity Triumph motorcycles being developed in partnership with Indian manufacturing giants Bajaj.
The British firm revealed in January 2020 that it had reached an agreement with Bajaj - one of largest motorcycle firms in the world - to develop and build a fresh range of so-called ‘baby’ Triumphs that would sit in the 200 - 750cc engine band.
The original plan was to have the first fruits of this collaboration hit the road in 2022, though this was feared to have been pushed back as a direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nevertheless, the easing of the crisis has allowed both parties to begin on the development path, with Head of Brand Management Miles Perkins saying prototypes have been created and plans are ‘on track’
“That’s going great guns, I have seen the development motorcycles and the prototype for those, it’s all on track. We haven’t yet confirmed exactly what the bikes are and exactly when we will launch them but news is forthcoming soon.”
Though Triumph hasn’t confirmed which models will be created by the partnership, it has said it intends for each to be sold globally rather than be targeted primarily for Asian audiences more attracted by cheaper, small capacity motorcycles.
With this in mind, Perkins says Triumph has found the ideal partner in Bajaj, which has a particularly influential market share in India and has experience of working in a similar capacity with KTM and Kawasaki.
“The relationship with Bajaj and conversations I have had with the team over there and the engineering team working with them are very like-minded and passionate individuals, and their focus and commitment is outstanding.
“They have similar leadership family principles and values. The working relationship is strong, the design development is completely Triumph, these are Triumphs and the partnership is building it and selling them around the world.
“What Bajaj brings is phenomenal in terms of the ability to develop quality in this volume, especially in the lower capacity range.”
Triumph TE-1 EV built and ready for testing
Perkins also updated on the progress of the TE-1 Project, an electric sportsbike developed in partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering as a blueprint for a future EV Triumph.
“The TE-1 Prototype project, it’s a prototype platform development as in it is not an actual motorcycle available for sale, it’s a project with which we are learning and developing the team’s experience but also developing the partnership of technology with several partners for a full on electric Triumph platform that will follow in years to come as a project.
“ We were shown the sketch and the bike is now built, so we have a rolling prototype and that bike is about to go into the first phase of testing.
“We won’t necessarily see spy shots of that going around but we will be sharing imagery and an opportunity for people to see the rolling prototype, but then it has to do the job it has been built to do so in the middle of next year or beginning of next year, more than likely we will have the results testing and we will fit the bodywork to match the sketches and give everyone a chance to have a good look at it.”
