Mahindra interested in Norton/BSA?

iwilson

iwilson

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There's a few stories out there claiming Indian conglomerate Mahindra is interested in buying Norton or BSA. Be interesting to see if it amounts to anything. They're certainly capable of injecting a huge amount of cash into either brand if a sale does occur. Tata seem to have done a good job so far with their ownership of the Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover brands.

Might have to start a new thread...

More Norton trouble for Bloor :twisted: :lol:
 
If Stuart Garner were to sell Norton, that would be tragic. The cost cutting would be enormous and the bike would be inferior.
 
For any manufacturing company, it's not so much who owns it, as it is the legal environment where it manufactures.
 
BritTwit said:
Is this the same company that owns Royal Enfield?
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I thought it might be, Ed, but its not. A guy named Sidartha Lal owns Eicher Motors that produces the R.E.


Eicher Motor Limited.
Owner: Siddhartha Lal

Former Company: British Motorcycle company

In February 1990, Eicher Goodearth bought 26% stake in Enfield India Ltd and by 1993 Eicher acquired a majority stake (60% equity shareholding) in Enfield India.
 
Interesting.

RE seems to be doing OK.
I see Enfields in Manhattan fairly often now, ridden by what appear to be hipsters.
I wonder if the RE is now hipster chic in the US?

Won't mind someone resurrecting BSA though.
 
I've been seeing quite a few in dowtown Manhattan for years. The Village. One of the best selling bikes and yet they rattle apart. Go figure.
 
I've been seeing quite a few in dowtown Manhattan for years. The Village. One of the best selling bikes and yet they rattle apart. Go figure.
 
Britfan60 said:
If Stuart Garner were to sell Norton, that would be tragic. The cost cutting would be enormous and the bike would be inferior.
Click to expand...

I would doubt that - in fact I would expect the opposite. Tata purchased Jaguar Land Rover for $2.1 billion and have invested another $15 billion, Jaguar in particular was looking like a basket case before Tata stepped in - although it would appear Ford sold up just as their new gen designs were about to make Jag cool again. I doubt there's much in the way of costs to be cut at Norton - I would expect a big injection of cash to get maximum leverage from the brand. Whether or not the TT campaign would survive is another question very much dependent on the direction they decide to take the brand. But it would be pennies in the greater scheme of things - but there's very little connection between Norton's current range and the TT bike other than the sticker on the tank.

However it's nothing more than chinese whispers right now and the media aren't known for letting facts get in the way of a good story!
 
iwilson said:
Britfan60 said:
If Stuart Garner were to sell Norton, that would be tragic. The cost cutting would be enormous and the bike would be inferior.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

I would doubt that - in fact I would expect the opposite. Tata purchased Jaguar Land Rover for $2.1 billion and have invested another $15 billion,

I assumed that Britfan60 was being ironic or sarcastic !!
 
skidmark said:
iwilson said:
Britfan60 said:
If Stuart Garner were to sell Norton, that would be tragic. The cost cutting would be enormous and the bike would be inferior.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

I would doubt that - in fact I would expect the opposite. Tata purchased Jaguar Land Rover for $2.1 billion and have invested another $15 billion,

I assumed that Britfan60 was being ironic or sarcastic !!
Click to expand...

So between us we've got him covered from both directions! :D
 
Take it from me, an Indian firm has recently acquired the licensed rights to manufacture bikes, spares and clothing. So yes, the Indians intend to produce BSA bikes it seems. Not heard anything about Norton though, or what part or what constitutes Norton these days.
 
skidmark said:
iwilson said:
Britfan60 said:
If Stuart Garner were to sell Norton, that would be tragic. The cost cutting would be enormous and the bike would be inferior.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

I would doubt that - in fact I would expect the opposite. Tata purchased Jaguar Land Rover for $2.1 billion and have invested another $15 billion,

I assumed that Britfan60 was being ironic or sarcastic !!
Click to expand...

No doubt there would be a large cash infusion. I wasn't being sarcastic. I feel the money spent would be on assembly line and mass production which may affect the beauty and craftsmanship the the hand built machine. I just crawled all over a Thruxton at the dealership. (not the R) and was really unimpressed. Paint was fair, seat too high, signals were cheap chrome plated plastic, the seat hurt my inner thighs, dials were cheap plastic (although they have good functionality) . For 12.5, its a nice bike and may slightly edge out the Norton on speed, but it really felt like what it is, mass produced for the masses. I would hate to see that happen to Norton. (which is a moot point. Its vague speculation)
 
If anyone was to try and 'buy' Norton they would have to settle with more than Just Garner, it could be problamatic. With BSA a company only dealt with one trademark owner who owned all the licences in the entirety.
 
I was under the impression that Kenny Dreer's corporation bought the name/trademark and intellectual properties associated to the Norton name from the various owners.
Didn't Stuart Garner just buy all this from Dreer in 2008?
 
Britfan60 said:
No doubt there would be a large cash infusion. I wasn't being sarcastic. I feel the money spent would be on assembly line and mass production which may affect the beauty and craftsmanship the the hand built machine. I just crawled all over a Thruxton at the dealership. (not the R) and was really unimpressed. Paint was fair, seat too high, signals were cheap chrome plated plastic, the seat hurt my inner thighs, dials were cheap plastic (although they have good functionality) . For 12.5, its a nice bike and may slightly edge out the Norton on speed, but it really felt like what it is, mass produced for the masses. I would hate to see that happen to Norton. (which is a moot point. Its vague speculation)
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Doesn't the 961 come with plastic signals and a plastic fuel tank? Not that it would bother me, but you seem to think the Thrux is a lesser bike due to the plastic signals, which most owners replace with Rizomas for a few $ as part of the Mr.Dress up routine.
I'm more interested in riding the thing and I can tell you that the Thruxton is an impressive machine when you are on it, forget the turn signals or other cosmetic critique points.
Did 400 miles thru the mountain twisties yesterday on the R and it is as close to perfection as any motorcycle I've ridden.

Glen
 
All New Norton Manufacturing yes . , The vintage stuff is owned by Andover Norton et.al.. even the rotary parts business . At least if you read their website at Andover Norton and read various articles. Its kind of difficult to under stand but Vintage Commando = Andover Norton and New Commando 961 and anything else they make = Norton Motorcycles UK . As far as I know all vintage commando parts come from Andover Norton and everyone else builds bikes from those parts . Complete , very expensive bikes by the way . At some point early on , a decision was made that the vintage commando business could stand on its own and was sold that way . I think the heads Andover Norton sell are Full Auto Australia Heads. Getting Norton completely out of England will be like raising the Titanic and cleaning up the debris field. No one would attempt it . TonyA
 
Interesting stuff Tony. I didn't know any of that but it adds up.
We had a local wheeler dealer here by the name of Nelson Skalbania. Back in the 70s, for about 15 minutes, he was Mega -rich, or at least he had a lot of locals convinced that he was. One of his many deals was to acquire the Norton name, I guess the portion that Garner has now.
Skalbania had dealings with the Aquilini family, who truly do own many things. They came out on the losing side when Nelson declared bankruptcy.
They had given him a lot of money to invest and didn't get much back. One thing they did get was the Norton name, which at that point probably looked to be just about worthless.
So many years later when Kenny Dreer and his financeer came shopping for the Norton name, the Aqulinis must have done back flips in joy.
They got millions for it, maybe most or all of the $ the had lost on the original Skalbania deals.

Glen
 
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