Triumph Motorcycles has ridden a wave of interest in retro motorcycles to post a 22% increase in revenue and 12.7% increase in sales in the 2016/17 financial year.
The British company says their customers are typically men aged 40 and over who have spurred a 300% increase in retro models over the past five years.
Popular models are the modern retro 900cc and 1200cc liquid-cooled Bonneville range, particularly the Bobber. Click here to read our review.
Triumph BobberThe Bonneville cruiser has been in such demand the Avon tyre factory had to put on another shift to keep up supply of their special Cobra tyres.
Apart from the launch of the new Bonnevilles, Triumph also unveiled the new Street Triple 765 range during the financial year. Click here to read out Street Triple 765 review.
The Triumph result is a triumph given the economic downturn in Britain following the Brexit vote and the drop in motorcycle sales in the UK and Europe.
Actually most of the increase has come from overseas sales.
In 2016/17, Triumph sold 63,404 up 7151 from 56,253, with 86.1% sold overseas, up from 85.3% in 2015/16.
However, Australian sales are down a massive 24.5% from 2310 to 1745 in the first nine months of 2017.
Meanwhile, turnover rose £90.9 ($A158.9) million to £498.5m ($A871.8m), with profits increasing by £8.1m ($A14.1m) to £24.7m ($A43.2m).
Triumph chief commercial officer Paul Stroud says it was Triumph’s fourth consecutive year of growth.
Wave of growth
Triumph SpeedmasterTriumph is on track for another bumper financial year with the updated Tiger 800 and 1200 models and the new Speedmaster released so far this financial year and an updated Speed Triple expected next year.
Other factors pointing to a continued wave of growth are:
- In June, Triumph signed a deal with Dorna to power the 2019 Moto2 series with special Street Triple engines;
- In August, the Leicestershire company entered a joint agreement with Indian motorcycle company Bajaj to build small-capacity bikes in India; and
- In October, Triumph opened its new £4 ($A6.9m) million Factory Visitor Experience (museum) in Hinckley featuring the Steve McQueen TR6R from the cult film The Great Escape.
Steve McQueen’s restored Triumph TR6