Bajaj shelves plans for a stake in Triumph. Focuses on KTM
Written on December 23, 2008 – 11:17 pm | by BikersUnite
Bajaj auto today announced that it has shelved plans for a stake/alliance with Triumph motorcycles of UK which it had been negotiating with for the past year. Bajaj will instead increase it’s stake in KTM to over 30% by the first quarter next year.
With increased stake in KTM, Bajaj is also looking at more representation in KTM board. “We are focussing our top-end efforts on the KTM brand. By next year some of those products will be out in the market and we will work towards riding that brand in the lifestyle segment. We are not pursuing any further negotiations with overseas brands right now.” said Rajiv Bajaj, MD of Bajaj Auto.
In the last 10 months, a lot of the product development and R&D work for KTM has shifted to India and Bajaj is expected to roll out its KTM range through its Probiking retail network shortly. Bajaj Auto had been looking for an alliance or acquisition to possess enough engineering and product development expertise to crank out cruisers and higher displacement bikes in the 200 cc plus range. KTM fits into this requirement very well with enough experience in the international markets.
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