'Norton is Back!
The reboot of Norton is proceeding well under new owner Indian brand TVS, one of the largest motorcycle manufacturers in the world, who purchased the brand for £16M in April 2020. Few Western riders know TVS as their 2.9 Million motorcycles built per year (2019) are chiefly for their domestic Indian market, which sees total sales of around 1M bikes per month.
Put in context, TVS is larger than the combined outputs of all American and European motorcycle manufacturers combined. If that blows your mind, remember TVS is only the 4th largest moto manufacturer in India: reigning king Hero Motors build 9M bikes/year! [read our article ‘There Goes My Hero’].
So, much like Jaguar and Land Rover under Tata ownership, we can expect a serious increase in quality control and vastly improved engineering for Norton under TVS. These legacy British brands hold a deep and dear spot for Indian vehicle enthusiasts, regardless the legacy of colonialism: British brands represent aspirational quality…something which previous Norton owner Stuart Garner sullied with his financial chicanery and poor quality control.
TVS calls out the Garner-built Commando as ‘unsafe’, and the Financial Times notes “Norton’s rebirth comes as Stuart Garner, its former owner, is being prosecuted by the Pensions Regulator for allegedly illegally investing money in the business from three pension schemes for which he was the sole trustee.” You’ll look good in stripes, Stuart.
TVS expects to start rolling out an improved version of the current Commando in the second half of 2022, and is continuing development of the Norton V4 engine. And, of course, they have invested heavily in eBike research, so expect an electric Norton announced in Q2 of ‘22."