TVS enters super premium bike market with Apache RR 310

The premium bike segment (in the 150cc to 500cc range) constitutes around 14 per cent of the country’s motorcycle market. TVS had been registering a compounded annual growth rate of 28 per cent and in the premium segment, growing 10 per cent annually, he said.

Post-launch of the super-premium bike, Sudarshan Venu, Joint MD, TVS, said the company is looking to sell 10,000 units of this in the coming year. The vehicle would be shipped overseas but only in a “phased manner,” he added. 

The bike is priced at Rs 2.05 lakh (ex-showroom), Radhakrishnan said, adding the on-road pricing would vary from state-to-state. The motorcycle would hit the road by month-end. The new fully faired motorcycle is built on the same platform as the BMW G310R, co-developed by BMW and TVS in India, said Radhakrishnan. The G310R, expected to launch next year, will be the cheapest BMW-branded motorcycle in the world. 

In April 2013, the two and three-wheeler maker had tied up with BMW Motorrad to produce motorcycles in the domestic and global markets under the sub-500cc segment. TVS Motor invested about 20 million Euros in this alliance. 

Radhakrishnan said, the premium category could be bifurcated into three – sports, touring and heritage but TVS would focus essentially on the sports segment. TVS is the second largest brand in this category and it has seen its volumes triple in the last five years.

Venu added that the company has enough capacity to produce the super-premium motorcycle at its facility in Hosur, TN. It would also be launching an upgraded variant of the existing Apache 160cc ‘very soon’, Venu said.