Is India the next motorcycling powerhouse?
RiDE INVESTIGATES
China’s motorcycle industry has been making headlines but India is taking a quieter route to dominance, says our industry expert
Words Ben Purvis Pictures Bauer Archive
Royal Enfield sold one million bikes last year
IT’S EASY TO look at the leaps being made by the Chinese motorcycle industry and conclude that it will emulate the success that saw Japan rise to dominance in the 1970s. But the real threat to the two-wheeled establishment may come from India’s vast bikemaking industry.
The contrast between the approaches of Chinese and Indian manufacturers is distinct. China is rushing into direct competition with the established brands, with the likes of CFMoto, QJMotor, Voge and Kove launching increasingly convincing and technologically advanced alternatives. It’s an approach that, like the Japanese motorcycling revolution 50 years ago, asks customers to abandon brand loyalties and take a risk on a relative unknown with higher levels of equipment at a lower price.
By contrast, India’s motorcycle companies have grown quietly in their home market before embarking on a path towards global expansion based on buying or partnering with brands that already have a strong following and familiar name. Bajaj isn’t India’s biggest bike brand, but its expansion most clearly illustrates the strategy. A long-term shareholder in KTM, for which it already manufacturers single-cylinder models up to the 390 range, Bajaj provided an €800 million (£694 million) bailout to KTM following the Austrian company’s woes. That loan is due to be converted into shares, following regulatory approval, giving Bajaj a controlling stake – and they have expressed a desire to shift more KTM production and R&D to India.
“‘Subtle approach may make it dominant force’”
Bajaj have made the 390 Duke for years. Now they control KTM
Bajaj is also Triumph’s Indian partner, manufacturing their 400cc single-cylinder bikes: the Speed 400, Scrambler 400 X and XC; and the India-only Thruxton 400 and Speed T4. Those models have been Triumph’s biggest sales success in their history, so we can expect more to follow.
Furthermore, Bajaj has rights to the dormant Excelsior-Henderson brand, giving it a famous name to use if it wants to build a Harley-Davidson rival.
Speaking of Harley, Hero MotoCorp has a lower international profile than Bajaj but it’s India’s biggest bike maker, having sold 5.9 million bikes last year and with the production capacity to make 9.4 million. Most of those sales are in India, with the focus on its home market, as well as exports to Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.
But Hero also partners with Harley-Davidson under an agreement that not only lets it sell the US brand’s bikes in India but also to develop its own Harley-branded machines – the first being the single-cylinder X440, with more due in 2026.
Then there’s TVS, which made around 4.7 million bikes last year and claims to be the world’s fourth-largest two-wheeler manufacturer. TVS manufactures BMW’s G310 models, which are also the basis of its own TVS Apache RR310 and RTR310, and it co-developed and manufactures the BMW CE 02 electric scooter.
For 2026, TVS also takes on responsibility for making BMW’s upcoming F450 twin-cylinder model range – and it already looks set to be a sales hit.
TVS also owns Norton, with plans to launch six new models over the next three years and to expand the British brand’s reach to the US, Germany, France and Italy – as well as India.
The idea of using a famous British brand means TVS is following in the footsteps of Royal Enfield, part of India’s Eicher Motors and a company that’s grown rapidly in recent years. While 90 per cent of the one million Royal Enfields made last year were sold in India, the remaining 100,000 exports represent an impressive international reach.
Rival Mahindra is taking the same approach – albeit at a much smaller scale – with its majority ownership of Classic Legends, the parent of the recently revived BSA, Jawa and Yezdi brands.
With challenges from both India and China, the threat to the status quo for both European and Japanese motorcycle companies is very real – but India’s more subtle approach could make it the dominant force in motorcycle manufacturing in the future.
HOW INDIA CAN HELP HARLEY-DAVIDSON
Hero already make the X440 – and more H-Ds are coming
Harley-Davidson is going through a rough time. Sales are plummeting – just over 150,000 bikes were sold in 2024, the lowest since 1998 and well under half the 344,000 sales achieved at their peak in 2006 – and the company has revealed that part of the solution will be a sub-$6000 (£4400) machine called the Sprint that’s joining the range for 2026.
The name harks back to the Aermacchi Harley-Davidson Sprint models of the Sixties and Seventies – foreign-made, singlecylinder machines that filled the same slot in the range – and there’s a strong chance the new bike will be built in partnership with Hero in India.
While Harley has a partnership with QJMotor, making the X350 and X500 twins for Asian markets, Hero’s Indian-built X440 is a closer rival to the likes of the Triumph Speed 400. Hero has also extended its arrangement with Harley to develop more bikes for Indian and export markets.