Aiming to consolidate its position in the two-wheeler industry, the country’s second largest motorcycle manufacturer TVS Motor Company on Wednesday said it plans to launch two new vehicle models per year.
“Next year there will be two more models to consolidate our presence. We are working on the basis of two new models a year,” TVS Motor Company Chairman and Managing Director, Venu Srinivasan said after unveiling their first clutchless motorcycle and an “automatic” scooterette here, priced at Rs. 41,500 and Rs. 42,500, respectively.
The company, which has vehicles in the executive and premium segment at present, would launch two new models next year, Mr. Srinivasan told reporters here.
He said the company would be “upgrading” some of its existing models. However, he declined to comment on the segments the company would focus to launch the new models.
The company has invested about Rs. 25 crore for developing the motorcycle “Jive” and Rs. 55 crore on the automatic scooterette, he said.
Stating that the company was hoping to register more sales next year, Mr. Srinivasan said they would “invest” on launching new products. “Though we have not planned to invest this year, certainly, we will invest next year. It is looking bright”, he said.
Commenting on their sales performance, Mr. Srinivasan hoped the company would sell around 1.6 million units this year as compared to last year’s sales of 1.35 million units.
On the sales of the twin-spark technology bike “Flame”, Mr. Srinivasan said the sales were growing steadily “month after month”.
“We sell 4,000 units of Flame a month and target is to achieve 10,000 units”, he said.
Reacting to auto-rickshaw sales, for which the company operates under the brand “TVS King”, he said they had aimed to double their sales. “This (financial) year we are expecting to sell around 20,000 units. Next year we are planning to sell around 40,000 units (of autos)”, he said.
The company has started exports of auto-rickshaws to five countries. On their total exports, he said, they were looking for 30-35 per cent growth next year.
“The total exports for this financial year should be the same as that of last year and for next (financial) year we are looking at 35 per cent growth”, he said.
He said the company had also entered into newer markets like the South America and Philippines.
Mr. Srinivasan said 50 per cent of their sales came from South India, while North India contributed 35 per cent while the remaining came from the rest of the country.
TVS Motor Company registered a growth of 2.18 per cent at 45,220 units in October against 44,257 units in the same month last year.
