The single-cylinder Bajaj Triumph Scrambler will be pitted head on against Royal Enfield’s new family of 350 cc motorcycles
After announcing a partnership to develop medium displacement premium motorcycles, Bajaj and Triumph have been working under the radar with hardly any updates surfacing in the recent times barring a recent spotting of a prototype abroad. Given the timeline of the partnership announcement, we reckon that the first product should be pretty close to being ready for its world premiere.
Bajaj Triumph Scrambler Rendering
The modular medium displacement platform to be born out of this Indo-English alliance could adopt multiple body styles. We think a retro-classic scrambler and a low-riding cruiser are two of the top possibilities. Our design specialist Pratyush Rout has envisioned the former, taking cues from Triumph’s iconic Bonneville family.
Earlier this year, a prototype of what is reported to be the Bajaj-Triumph Scrambler was spotted testing along with a sobered up roadster variant. The test mules appeared to donning unfinished body components but the design direction was apparent. The Scrambler variant was equipped with 19-inch front wheel and 17-inch rear unit, serrated foot pegs and hand guards.
While it is obvious that the new Bajaj-Triumph Scrambler and its derivatives will be equipped with a single-cylinder liquid-cooled engine, the displacement is still kept under wraps. Given that the partnership is going after Royal Enfield’s immensely popular family of 350cc motorcycles, we expect the displacement to be in the same ballpark albeit with considerably more power and torque.
Market Positioning
If the Trident and Tiger 660 is anything to go by, Triumph is likely to position the upcoming single-cylinder offering in the premium end of the medium-displacement segment with no skimping on equipment. The prototypes supported this claim by sporting USD front forks, front and rear disc brakes with ABS, TFT instrument cluster, LED headlight and so on.
At the time of initial announcement, Bajaj-Triumph revealed that the new range of jointly developed products will have a staring price of under Rs 2 lakhs. With pandemic induced supply chain challenges, it would be a difficult task to stick to this pricing commitment but if at all any OEM can pull off such an attractive pricing, it is Bajaj.
Bajaj Triumph Motorcycle Launch
It is no secret that with its upcoming family of medium displacement single-cylinder premium motorcycles, Bajaj and Triumph aim to put an end to Royal Enfield’s near-monopoly in the segment. Its been over 50 years since Triumph last made a single-cylinder motorcycle but given this segment is growing at a brisk pace globally, it can’t afford not to participate. Bajaj’s experience in manufacturing premium single-cylinder KTMs for global market and a competitive cost structure makes it a sound business model.
The first set of Bajaj-Triumph motorcycles are expected to be ready towards the end of this year. They will be made in India for global consumption. We hope to see more info and spy shots trickling online in the coming months. Launch is likely to take place in 2023.
Source: Bike - rushlane.com
