Sept 27, 2014: America based two wheeler maker, UM Motorcycles agrees to form a 50 percent joint venture with Lohia Auto, manufacturer of two wheeler maker to make and market its products in Indian market. This will initially start with the manufacture of cruiser motorcycles.
The Director at UM Motorcycles India, Rajeev Mishra stated that the firm has finalized the terms with the India based Lohia Auto to debut a joint venture and launch the America made bikes in the local market. Furthermore, he also added that an authoritative agreement for the equal joint venture with an early investment of Rs 120 crore will be signed soon.
He further claimed that the firm will start with a contract manufacturing agreement to launch the bikes from the next year onwards. Initially, the firm aims to come up with three cruiser bikes in the Indian automobile market with an engine size between 250cc and 350cc. The firm is aiming to keep the vehicles in the affordable price segments with a pricing of Rs 1 lakh as per the existing taxation structure. The lineup with be enriched further with offerings in the sports and hotspot scooter categories respectively to suit the Indian consumers.
The manufacturing plant will be set up at Kashipur located in Uttarakhand with an initial set up to produce around 100,000 units. The firm will also use Lohia Auto’s existing manufacturing plant that manufactures electric scooters and bikes. The production of the American bikes is believed to debut in the second quarter of 2015.
UM International has a portfolio of making sports bikes, dual purpose bikes, cruiser and scooters between 100cc and 350 cc. Besides launching its two wheelers in India, the auto maker is also planning to utilize the country as an export hub to ship the made in India two wheelers across its global distribution network in Asia Pacific, Africa and Middle East. The brand’s presence is there in over 20 countries and the firm is well known for innovative features such as keyless alarm system and blind spot mirror system.
