By IANS,
New Delhi : The Chennai-based TVS Motor Co, manufacturer of two-wheelers, expects to grow at 15 to 20 percent this financial year after the negative growth the company experienced last fiscal, a senior official said here Monday on the sidelines of a bike launch.
“Last year was bad with the two-wheeler industry experiencing a negative growth of 34 percent,” TVS marketing head H.S. Goindi told reporters. “Expect the industry to grow by 10-15 percent this fiscal, TVS alone will grow by 15-20 percent.”
Goindi said his company was looking at growing faster than the industry.
“We experienced nine percent growth in June, our growth this year will be fuelled by our portfolio which now has offerings in the premium as well as budget segments,” he added.
Goindi was referring to the TVS Flame and the TVS Apache RTR FI as the bikes in the premium segment. The latter, a successor to Apache RTR, was unveiled Monday with new fuel injection (FI) technology.
The company will also be launching two new bikes in the premium segment this fiscal, another company official said.
“I am not in a position to disclose the details, but we do have plans to come up with at least two new bikes in the premium segment,” K. Ramakrishna, marketing general manager, told IANS.
Goindi said inflation would boost two-wheeler sales in the country.
“With fuel prices rising and spiralling inflation, we see a great opportunity as two-wheelers have lower operating costs,” he said.
TVS also expects exports to grow 40 percent this fiscal and enhance its global footprint.
“We have a presence in about 55 countries, this year we will expand further in Africa and Latin America, but major volumes will be coming in from our existing markets,” he added.
Goindi refused to comment on the litigation filed by rival Bajaj Auto in the Madras High Court over the dual spark plug technology that the company had introduced with its Flame range, even as Bajaj held the patent for the technology.
TVS later discontinued the dual-spark plug technology after a Supreme Court directive.
“The matter is sub-judice, we expect a judgment very soon. I cannot comment on whether we will reintroduce the technology in Flame and our other bikes if the judgement goes in our favour,” he said.