Norton bringing 300 jobs to UK
The UK government says Norton’s plans in the Midlands will bring hundreds of jobs to the region.
Following news that Norton intends to build at least some of its bikes in the UK, there are reports this week that those and other plans will create hundreds of jobs in the country.
Founded some 127 years ago in Birmingham, Norton is on the verge of a major comeback after more than a decade of mismanagement. Now owned by Indian multinational TVS Motor - the third largest motorcycle manufacturer in India - Norton has been spending the last few years getting its ducks in a row.
We learned recently that TVS has invested upward of £250 million in Norton and intends to build flagship models in Solihull. Now, off the back of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s trade-focused visit to India, the government has confirmed that Norton’s plans will create “300 high-quality jobs.”
TVS will also reportedly be developing “next-generation electric vehicles,” according to a government media release. Whether those vehicles will be developed under the banner of Norton or TVS is unclear.
Back in July, The Times had reported that Norton had “pulled the plug on an advanced electric motorbike project despite the historic manufacturer having received £8.5 million from UK taxpayers to develop it.”
That followed an interview with The Telegraph in which Norton boss Richard Arnold said UK riders “aren’t ready” for electric motorcycles.
“You can develop as many products as you want,” he told the newspaper. “But we have to make sure that they’re ones consumers want to buy, and the evidence to date is that this is something consumers aren’t ready for.”
What, if anything has changed on that front is uncertain, so it may indeed be a TVS initiative.
“TVS Motor has had a long association with the UK and over the years new facets have been added - engineering and technology, academia partnerships and scholarships, and e-Bikes,” the government’s media release quotes TVS Chairman and Managing Director Sudarshan Venu as saying. “Now Norton Motorcycles, the storied British marque, is poised to open a new chapter of resurgence and global expansion with TVS Motor’s backing. We are excited about the future and look forward to continued growth.”
TVS’s operations in Solihull are part of a broader effort to strengthen trade ties between the United Kingdom and India.
Certainly the two countries' motorcycle ties were already incredibly strong. In addition to Norton’s Indian owners, recently reborn BSA is owned by Mahindra - a multinational conglomerate that trades in everything from farm equipment to pharmaceuticals - and Triumph has a long and seemingly deepening relationship with Bajaj, the Indian moto giant that owns most of KTM and builds Triumph’s 400cc models (which will soon be 350cc models). Not to mention Royal Enfield, which was founded in England but has been a purely Indian concern for half a century.
Additionally, there is scuttlebutt that TVS plans to expand its own brand to the UK market, and moto giant Hero is on its way, as well.
All told, and including dozens of industries unrelated to motorcycles, the UK’s latest trade deals with India will deliver “nearly 7,000 brand new jobs,” according to the government’s media release.
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Chris Cope is a fourth-generation journalist, originally from Texas. He has lived in the UK for roughly two decades and has been writing about motorcycles for most of that time. He has written for dozens of publications and websites in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
