Rajiv Bajaj has revealed an important detail on his recently-signed partnership with Triumph in an interview with Livemint. He said that he contacted Triumph in 2007, which is when he also connected with KTM for partnerships.
KTM deal, as we know, is signed and the Austrian brand along with Bajaj is now going all guns blazing with tremendous market share gains in major markets of the world. Back then, John Bloor, who is the Chairman of Bloor Holdings – the company which owns Triumph, politely declined the offer but promised to get back to Bajaj.
After ten years, Mr Bloor contacted Bajaj (and nobody else) and after working on the finer terms, it took the duo only six months to officially announce the partnership. However, there is a difference between the two deals…
Bajaj invested money in KTM and now owns about 48 percent in the Stephan Pierer owned firm. On the other hand, with Triumph they have formed a non-equity partnership. But Bajaj clarifies, if tomorrow Bloor asks Bajaj to invest in Triumph, he (Rajiv Bajaj) is open to the offer.
Also Read: This Will be the First Sign of Triumph-Bajaj’s First Motorcycle Launch…
Few other details have already been made puclic – like the duo will make mid-capacity motorcycles but bigger than 250 cc. And they will be developed by Triumph (with inputs from Bajaj) and then production and distribution will be taken care of by Bajaj for the domestic and a few international markets. The first motorcycle(s) to hit production will be in 2019-20.