TVS unveils Norton superbike sketch; JLR's McGovern joins design team

TVS-owned Norton Motorcycles unveils its first official superbike design sketch, created under the guidance of JLR's Gerry McGovern and Norton's Simon Skinner, ahead of its EICMA 2025 debut

The revival journey of UK’s iconic 123-year-old Norton Motorcycles, now part of Chennai-based TVS Motor Company, entered a fresh phase on Thursday with the company revealing the first official design sketch of its all-new flagship superbike to be manufactured at the company’s Solihull headquarters.

   

The brains behind the new design are Norton’s head of design, Simon Skinner, and veteran car designer Gerry McGovern, the chief creative officer and board member for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

   

The company will be revealing an all-new range of motorcycles later this year at EICMA (Esposizione Internazionale Ciclo e Motociclo) in Milan, led by the new superbike and heralding a new design philosophy and a reimagined brand identity.

 

   

The creative and brand teams have been advised by McGovern throughout the Resurgence programme, which underpins the future of Norton.

 

 

Commenting on his advisory role to Norton, McGovern said, “Modernity, innovation and luxury are not terms you immediately think of when considering classic motorcycle brands. Motorcycles and cars are different, yet they share fundamental values. Chief among them is the ability to stir emotion. Though their design languages differ, both can become objects of desire. They also share essential principles of proportion, stance, and drama.”

 

He added, “Norton’s rich British heritage, something I’m deeply familiar with in the brands I creatively oversee, made the opportunity even more compelling. What I admire about TVS Chairman Sudarshan Venu is his visionary mindset. He reminds me of a young Ratan Tata and working with him was part of the appeal.”

 

Both Venu and McGovern collaborated on the “reimagining” of Norton.

 

“Together, we developed the Resurgence strategy: a new design direction and brand identity, to be led by a range of motorcycles launching later this year,” he said.

 

The Resurgence strategy underscores a firm undertaking to support the brand’s long-term growth, which has already seen the workforce increase by 25 per cent since the start of 2025 in readiness for a new era of global expansion

 

Meanwhile, Skinner said, “It is a great privilege to work with Professor Gerry McGovern. It’s given me and the team here at Norton the opportunity to really take a fresh look at our brand and products. What we’ve designed, and what has been meticulously developed across the company’s engineering team, is a range of motorcycles that I’m sure is going to both surprise and delight the world.”

 

He added, “It’s a new direction, for sure, but one that is sensitive to what has gone before, blending our rich heritage with a bold new future. Today’s sketch is just a taster of what is to come, and I cannot wait to reveal more of our Resurgence strategy in November.”