As we reported earlier, TVS Motor has acquired Norton Motorcycles, the British marque with an all-cash deal worth GBP 16 million (INR 152 crore, approximate). The acquisition of the company doesn’t mean that the Norton Motorcycles will be locally produced in the Indian markets as the brand has not altered any manufacturing decisions for the motorcycles as of yet.
According to the TVS officials, the Norton motorcycles will continue to be manufactured in the United Kingdom just like before. The brand has further decided to retain the same design and assembly team at the manufacturing unit to continue the production though the legalities now lie under TVS Motor Company.
Apart from this, the reports also suggest that the headquarters of the Norton Motorcycles which are currently established in Donington Hall will be shifted to someplace else though closer to the current address. The brand is currently focusing on leveraging the expertise behind the design and engineering team of Norton Motorcycles to establish it a global brand shortly.
Commenting on the acquisition of TVS Motorcycles over the Norton Motorcycles, Sudarshan Venu, TVS Motor Company Joint Managing Director stated: "We're taking over all the employees except a few, which is basically the old management, who we're not taking over. The strong design team and assembly team is coming over to us, and we will look to leverage their strength and work with them to deliver more bikes of this storied brand. In Europe, the location is in Derby, in Donington Hall. We will move to another new location very soon, in the same region. The idea is to continue with this very talented team to get the brand back to its original glory and take it into the future. See, right now, if you see, the team at Norton in the UK is very capable. They are manufacturing the bikes really well. And we'll look to strengthen that as we cater to the global market."
The MD further stated that TVS Motor is not looking for moving the production to India as Norton is a premium brand and the new ownership will not change any of that. He further believes that the Norton Motorcycles will benefit from a global supply chain as well as the strength already possessed by TVS.
Source: NDTV
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