TVS confirms higher capacity models

TVS motors is readying itself to launch 6 new models into the market over the next 2 years. These will also include higher capacity bikes in and above the range on 200 to 250cc. Vinay Harne, president NPI, TVS Motor Company confirmed the news and went on to say “Currently we produce only up to 180 cc and below; we will be entering the bigger bikes segment. There is a trend of moving towards bigger bikes; while the numbers are small, the growth is quite high.”

TVS is keeping the details of the future models very secretive, they are currently working on two engine platforms, one we know for sure is the same that TVS presented at the Auto Expo 2012 and the another will go beyond 200 cc and perhaps even beyond 250 cc. When questioned on a specific engine category of 250 cc, Harne said: “Yeah sure that range and then bigger ones.”

TVS has worked with international engine specialists like AVL and Ricardo to develop these new engines. The two key areas where TVS has focused on over the past three years are automatic transmission technology and hybrid technology, which were showcased at the New Delhi Auto Expo. On both these fronts, the company is moving ahead with beta versions for trials that should commence by September. Meantime, TVS’ R&D team is working overtime to take to production a concept hybrid scooter called Qube. The scooter is likely to be priced at 55,000 to 60,000, which is at least a 30% premium over the existing automatic scooter range.

“We have done a lot of things to reduce costs-used cost-effective material, reduced weight, adopted a low-cost manufacturing process, and the whole controller is locally developed,” said Harne. While all these new products will take 18 months to hit the market, for the current fiscal, TVS Motor Company has lined two new motorcycles and a scooter in a bid to claw back some lost share.