Triumph zooms past Harley-Davidson on Indian roads

A year after setting foot in India, iconic British motorcycle manufacturer Triumph Motorcycles has overtaken its equally iconic American rival Harley-Davidson in domestic sales.

Triumph sold 954 units sales in the above-Rs5 lakh category, with engine capacity of more than 500cc, during the period May-December 2014. Harley-Davidson, the world's largest manufacturer of premium cruiser bikes, clocked sales of 936 units during the same period.

Vimal Sumbly, managing director of Triumph Motorcycles (India), said, "The demand for Triumph in India is well over our expectations. At the start of operations, we hoped to do around 1,000 in sales but we ended 2014 with sales of 1,300 units. We have clearly overtaken our targets.''

Triumph at present has a market share of 36 per cent in the above-500cc category. Harley Davidson, which began sales operation in India in 2010, has a share of 35 per cent.

Both Triumph and Harley have 12 motorcycles on sale in India. With the opening of two new dealerships in Surat and Bangalore in December, Harley has 17 dealerships across the country, while Triumph has 11 dealerships.

Both companies have local assembly bases in Haryana. While Triumph has its base in Manesar, Harley has its in Bawal.

The market for such high-end bikes has grown to 3,656 units by end of last financial year, a growth of more than 700 per cent compared to the 2010-11 year when high-end bikes industry clocked 450 units in sales.

(Also see: India's Enfield overtakes Harley as global bike sales leader)