TVS eyes shift to top gear with plans for Norton's revival

India's third largest two-wheeler manufacturer will unveil four models at EICMA 2025 in Milan, with commercial rollouts starting early next year, Venu said. TVS looks to turn Norton from a heritage name into a growth engine across key markets, including the UK, Europe, the US, and India.

“We're targeting 200 dealer touch points globally for the 2026 season and looking at over a period of time scaling up to 20,000 numbers a year, but not immediately, over a period of time," Venu said.

The premium motorcycle brand Norton was acquired by TVS in April 2020 in an all cash deal for ₹153 crore. Since then, the company has invested more than ₹1,000 crore in the development of products in a bid to revive its prospects.

TVS has not added any new product to Norton’s portfolio, with annual sales said to be in the low hundreds every year. It has two manufacturing facilities, one in Solihull in the UK and one at TVS’s plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.

The company will showcase four models of Norton at EICMA (Esposizione Internazionale Ciclo e Motociclo) in Milan scheduled to be held next month, with their commercial launches likely to start early next year.

Venu said TVS wants to build Norton as a global brand over the next few years, with planned launches in several continents. “We will launch across many markets, including four European markets, the UK, US and India," Venu said.

TVS has been building the executive team at Norton while also opening a centre of excellence in Italy earlier this year to boost design of the premium brand. Norton’s head of design, Simon Skinner, is aided by Jaguar Land Rover’s chief creative officer Professor Gerry McGovern.

The company appointed Vimal Sumbly, its head of premium two-wheeler business, to oversee the domestic business of Norton earlier this year. The company's bid to double down on international play coincided with Sudarshan Venu taking charge as the chairman.

The push in the western markets comes at a time when there are concerns about growth prospects of the automobile sector in these regions, owing to economic slowdown and volatility due to imposition of tariffs by the US.

As per Trading Economics data, EU's GDP growth has slowed down from 6.3% in 2021 to 1% in 2024, affecting consumer sectors such as automobiles, which have seen sales fall. As per MotorCycle Data, motorcycle sales in Europe fell 5% year-on-year to 1.3 million units in July-September.

Despite such concerns, Venu believes the company will manage to find pockets of growth, particularly in the ultra-premium segment.

“I think there are always opportunities within particular segments and for a particular strategy and a particular customer group," Venu said. “While global geopolitical factors are there, the segments themselves are very large and there is growth in some parts of these segments which is what we are targeting. And I think the Norton brand is very unique and brings a very unique experience."

Analysts said the entry of TVS into global premium markets through Norton can boost its overall margins, which in turn will lift profitability.

“These investments not only enable TVS to enter high-margin premium segments, but also support global brand visibility and technology transfer across platforms, reinforcing its ambition to become a formidable global mobility player," analysts at Axis Securities wrote in a 1 August note.

Analysts had, however, raised concerns about the prospects of the UK brand, indicating that a meaningful scale-up would take time before Norton can contribute to TVS's topline and bottomline.

At least two brokerage firms highlighted that the investments into the subsidiary are weighing on the overall performance of TVS, while a third analyst noted that meaningful revenue from Norton will only come in the second half of financial year 2027.

“Capital allocation remains a concern. TVS has heavily invested in foreign subsidiaries. Over the last five years, these investments have grown at ~25% CAGR," analysts at Nirmal Bang wrote in a 29 April note.

Increased losses from subsidiaries (excluding TVS Credit) need to be monitored, Rishi Vora of Kotak Institutional Equities had said in a 29 April note. “The company continues to incur losses on the Norton Motorcycle subsidiary as it continues to undertake costs of the development cost of TVS Motor."

A 29 April note by Shridhar Kallani of Axis Securities estimated that Norton would be able to generate meaningful revenues by the second half of financial year 2027.

Facing questions on performance and how Norton would deliver growth for TVS, Venu calls for patience. “The main thing is the brand experience and how customers enjoy it. Numbers will come. But the main thing is the products are very exciting and aspirational," he said.

The company's stock has been one of the best performers in the automobile sector this calendar year, with its shares surging as much as 50% as against a 17% rise in the Nifty Auto index.