Kinetic-Norton JV to import few units of Commando, Dominator

Kinetic Group and Norton Motorcycles plan to import a limited number of the British brand's models - Commando and Dominator - to India over the next three months even as partners prepare to launch locally assembled bikes in the country by next year-end.
The companies, which have formed a joint venture last week, are also looking at a market share of around 10-14 per cent in the Indian premium bike segment.
"We plan to bring in around 30 units of British made Commando and Dominator series to India in the next three months. The locally assembled units would be rolled out by end of 2018," Motoroyale Managing Director Ajinkya Firodia told reporters here.

The JV plans to sell around 1,500-2,000 units in the country over the next few years aggregating to 10-14 per cent market share in the superbike segment, he added.
Motoroyale, Kinetic group's venture of multi-brand superbikes, has formed a JV with Norton under which Norton motorcycles would be assembled at Kinetic's Ahmednagar-based manufacturing facility.
The partners are currently looking at finalising details on the level of localisation and production processes to be followed at Ahmednagar plant.

"Currently we are swapping engineers. Some of our people are here to understand the processes. Even people from Kinetic would be visiting our locations," Norton Motorcycles CEO and owner Stuart Garner said.

He said the company is in the process of developing new models which could also be launched in India as part of partnership with Kinetic.
The JV would also focus to have sales network in the 12- 15 major cities across the country, he added.
Motoroyale already sells brands like MV Agusta and SWM in the Indian market through 4 dealerships in major cities like Pune, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.
The JV will assemble and distribute the Norton bikes not only in India but also throughout Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Cambodia, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

The JV firm aims to sell 4,000-5,000 units in these markets annually over the next 2-3 years of launch. The bikes are expected to be launched by end of 2018 in India as well other Asian markets.
Garner said that with JV in place, one-third of Norton's global sales are expected to come from Asian markets. The company expects to sell around 1,000 units this year.
Next year it aims to sell 1,500-2,000 units.