For quite some time, we've been hearing about Triumph's collaboration with Indian motorcycle manufacturer Baja Auto. We received our first look at what the two had been up to in February 2022. The simple, clean roadster design, backed by an all-new single-cylinder engine, will undoubtedly be a hit in the premium entry-level sector. Although displacement is not disclosed at this time, rumors suggest that it is in the 200cc to 250cc range.
Bajaj Auto and Triumph Motorcycles announced a deal in 2020, and speculation about their next motorbike lineup has been rampant since then. According to recent speculations, the Bajaj-Triumph cooperation will release their debut motorbike some time in 2023. The Indo-British partnership will result in models for both Indian and worldwide markets, and will undoubtedly strike a chord in the fast rising premium entry-level class now inhabited by two-wheelers from KTM, BMW, and the big four Japanese manufacturers.
The Bajaj-Triumph portfolio is likely to have engine sizes ranging from 200cc to 250cc, with a focus on large volume sales. The first motorbike, which might be a roadster or a scrambler, could debut at the EICMA exhibition in Milan, Italy, in 2022. The roadster and scrambler test prototypes shared design cues with Triumph's Bonneville and Scrambler premium offerings, but in smaller proportions and with a single engine rather than a twin. The bikes produced by this collaboration will be rolled out of a new manufacturing factory in Chakan, near Pune, utilizing Bajaj's local production expertise.
This would aid in aggressively positioning the motorcycles and achieving economies of scale—meaning lower prices, translating to higher sales volumes right off the bat. At present, however, i t's unclear what the intentions are for the pair of bikes and their engine capabilities, but both might target the Indian market as well as the rest of the Southeast Asian market, given consumers' predilection for purchasing more luxury items in recent years.
