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Aug, 04 2016

UM Motorcycles Rides to India

UM Motorcycles International, LLC has established itself a leader in offering quality bikes that have changed the dynamics of biking. Rajeev Mishra, Director, UML talks about UM’s exhilarating designs at affordable prices with Joyshree Saha.

UM Motorcycles International, LLC has established itself a leader in offering quality bikes that have changed the dynamics of transportation and riding. With more than 1,500 stores worldwide in over 30 different countries across America, Asia, Africa and Europe along with a state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in India and Asia. Rajeev Mishra, Director, UML talks about UM’s exhilarating design at affordable prices with Joyshree Saha.

Tell us about your brand’s journey from inception till now?

UM Motorcycles, a US based two wheeler manufacturer headquartered at Miami. In the year 2014, we formed a joint venture company with Indian electric two-wheeler manufacturer, Lohia Auto to produce the bikes locally at the manufacturing facility located at Kashipur in Uttrakhand. The joint venture company is a 50:50 partnerships where both UM and Lohia Group have 50 per cent participating control.

In September2014, when we formed the JV, we had indicated that the product would be rolled out by the second half of the year 2015. But product development and localisation took a while more because we thought that unless we localise the components, the cost would be high and we would not be able to offer what we had committed. So, we started localising a lot of components. Similarly, the manufacturing facility in Kashipur took some time to come up.

When did you enter India and what has been the expansion so far?

We have worked tirelessly to bring UM Motorcycles in India. We know that the market is ripe for our products and are confident that our manufacturing expertise along with the innovation that goes into these motorcycles. There is a liking for cruisers in India, and with the Renegade cruiser line-up, we aim to close this gap and give people an opportunity to ride an affordable yet premium American product customised especially for the Indian roads. We want to be a significant player in the Indian market and targeting 5 pc market share in the 300 cc to 500 cc segment.

What investment is involved in this?

UM International in alliance with Lohia Auto has invested INR 100 crore for business expansion. Manufacturing is underway at the Lohia Auto's Kashipur facility in Uttarakhand which will also support the Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

What are your future plans?

Recently, we have opened our third dealership of UM Motorcycles in India in Gurgugram on 14th July 2016. It is an important milestone for UM Motorcycles in the extensive dealership network rollout program, which is currently underway. The new UM Motorcycle dealership will provide the prospective customers of UM Motorcycles a venue to know our products up close and personal. We also take pride in offering the Renegade Commando and Renegade Sport S for test drive. Both these iconic cruisers from the UM Stable have won the hearts of bike lovers the world over and are now ready to conquer the biking landscape in India.

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