The Kinetic Group and UK’s Norton Motorcycle Company have officially announced a joint venture. The latest development comes in the wake of a brief announcement that was made during the 2017 EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Italy.
As part of the joint venture, Motoroyale – a Kinetic Group sub-brand, will oversee operations in India and ASEAN countries. Motoroyale and Norton plan to setup retail channels and service outlets in India and other South-East Asian countries.
Norton will handle the design and engineering, while Motoroyale will give manufacturing support and will handle localization and homologation of the products. The company has plans to invest US$ 10 million into this project.
Q1 2018 will see the launch of the first Motoroyale-Norton bikes in India. Initially, the bikes will be imported as completely built units (CBUs). The companies also plan to start local production. CKD assemblies are expected to commence at Kinetic’s Ahmednagar plant by the end of 2018. Some of the bikes planned for India include the Commando 961 Sport, Commando 961 Café Racer, Dominator Sport and DomiRacer.