Mumbai:

This plant is expected to roll out new products from January 2005 and will contribute significantly to TVS profitability. Its entry into the three-wheeler segment will support the volume growth as the segment offers a Rs 1,700-crore growth opportunity. Besides this, the company also has plans to tap export markets.

Also, TVS plans to introduce a host of new products in the coming months in the two-wheeler segment where it is a dominant player. Its new product is the Centra, a 100cc motorcycle to be launched in the top-end of the entry-level segment.

TVS Motor has established itself as a strong player in all the three segments of two wheelers — motorcycles, scooters and mopeds — where it has an overall market share of 22 per cent.

In the last three years, after the exit of Suzuki, the company has successfully transformed itself from a two-stroke to a four-stroke motorcycle manufacturer. The company has spent aggressively on building a national brand.

TVS has successfully launched a string of successful products including the Victor, Scooty Pep, and the Fiero F2 in the last two years since the exit of Suzuki. In fact, the Victor — its motorcycle offering in the premium segment with many firsts attached to it like vibration dumper and adjustable shock absorbers — has become the second-largest selling product in its category within two years of launch.

It has transformed itself from a two-stroke to a four-stroke manufacturer over the last three years. The company is planning a spate of other new product introductions too, wherein lead-time will be reduced considerably.

Growth in the executive segment has been triggered by the success of the Victor, which has become the second-largest selling product — at around 48,000 units a month — in the segment since its launch in August 2001. Currently, 50 per cent of the segment''s monthly sales are still driven by a single product — Hero Honda''s Splendor (an eight-year-old model).

"We believe that with the unique features that the Victor offers, the company can scale up significantly over the next 18 months," say analysts at Enam Securities.

In the premium segment, TVS has re-launched the Fiero as Fiero F2 with higher power, enhanced styling and better features. Initial response has been quite encouraging as the company sold about 7,000 plus units in August 2003, the analysts said.

"We expect TVS to improve its market share in this segment from 10.2 per cent to 11.2 per cent by FY05," an Enam analyst report said. Exports will be a major thrust area for growth over the next few years with TVS targeting 15 per cent of its total sales volumes from exports over the next five years. Neighboring Asian countries (China and Indonesia), Latin America, European nations and other developing countries are target export markets.