Are you familiar with TVS Motor Company? If you're in India, Southeast Asia, or Latin America, your 'yes' was probably very quick in coming. For those unfamiliar, it's a major manufacturer of two- and three-wheeled vehicles that are popular in a lot of countries, and includes both combustion and electric options in its lineup.
If you're in Europe or the rest of the world, you may already be familiar with TVS Motor for different reasons. After all, it was TVS Motor who swooped in to rescue Norton Motorcycles back in 2020, after the troubled British company had gone into administration earlier in the year. If you're wondering, the concept of 'going into administration' in the UK is very similar to bankruptcy in the US.
Still, even if you didn't follow the Norton developments, if you're a fan of the BMW G 310 GS or G 310 R, then congratulations. You do know at least a little about TVS Motor, which has manufactured both of those bikes for BMW since their debuts. Elsewhere on that front, TVS will also be manufacturing the new BMW CE-02 electric scooter. (What we're saying is, TVS is a company that knows how to keep busy.)
Anyway, if you're living in Europe in 2024, you're about to become much more familiar with TVS Motor over the coming months. On November 16, 2023, TVS Motor and massive European automotive distributor Emil Frey announced that they've formed a new partnership. Full details aren't available yet, but both companies say that Emil Frey will begin distributing TVS motorbikes across Europe beginning in 2024.
If you're the type of motorcycle fan who's been intrigued by bikes like the TVS Ronin, Apache RR 310, and Apache RTR 310, those are just three of the preliminary list of bikes that TVS says are headed to Europe. Other models mentioned so far include the TVS Jupiter 125, TVS NTORQ, TVS Raider, TVS iQube S, and TVS X. The TVS iQube S and TVS X are both electric scooters.
For its part, Switzerland-based Emil Frey has consistently topped the lists of the largest independent automotive dealer groups in Europe by revenue for the past few years.
What will the future hold for TVS as it expands into a new continent? There are a lot of small- and mid-displacement riders who are hungry for new motorbikes in Europe, so there's a lot of potential.
As emissions restrictions grow stronger, the desire for small electric runabouts like the TVS iQube S and TVS X will only get bigger, especially in urban centers with low-emissions zones. The current plan is to begin rolling out TVS motorbikes in France, and Paris is one such urban center that could find those scoots particularly appealing.
Only time will tell once the wheels hit the ground, though. Elsewhere in the range, sporty options like the Apache RR 310 and RTR 310 should quickly find their niche, depending on pricing and availability.
