Gaurav Gupta (left), President - India Two-Wheeler Business, and Vimal Sumbly (right), Head - Premium Business & Marketing, TVS Motor Company, launching the new Apache brand campaign
TVS Motor Company is increasingly using the Apache franchise as the flagship of its premiumisation strategy, as demand shifts towards higher-value motorcycles. What began in 2005 as a single-performance motorcycle has evolved into a seven-product portfolio, spanning street, supersport and adventure motorcycles, helping the company’s premium and super-premium motorcycle business grow at a 29 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past three years, significantly outpacing the industry’s 11.6 per cent growth in the segment.Gaurav Gupta, President - India Two-Wheeler Business, and Vimal Sumbly, Head - Premium Business & Marketing, were in Mumbai to launch TVS Motor’s new ‘Tu Race Laga’ campaign and celebrate Apache crossing seven million customers worldwide, adding two million riders in the last two years. Beyond the milestone, the company used the occasion to position Apache as a rider-centric brand built around racing, technology, safety, connected experiences and community. Today, Apache has more than five lakh connected riders, while TVS says technologies developed on the racetrack continue to shape its production motorcycles.On the sidelines of the event, businessline spoke with Gupta and Sumbly about Apache’s evolution, TVS’ premiumisation strategy, the future of India’s premium motorcycle market and why the company continues to pursue a technology-agnostic approach across internal combustion engines (ICE), electric vehicles (EVs) and alternate fuel technologies. Edited excerpts:
