Triumph's triumph

In a world bike market which has fallen sharply during the recession, one name stands as a beacon of success…and for once it’s a British brand.

Triumph produced its first motorbike in 1902, and by the 1950s it was a world-leading motorcycle brand, seared into popular culture by Hollywood's bad boys. For two decades or so, Triumph's dominance looked unassailable. But the Japanese were coming. Armed with better technology and more efficient production techniques, the likes of Honda and Suzuki stole the market. The British companies were complacent - they somewhat arrogantly assumed that people wouldn’t want Japanese bikes, and in a short time the whole industry was gone.

But times they are a changin’. In 2009, 25 years after its rise from the ashes of the previous company, Triumph overtook Kawasaki to become the fourth-largest big bike seller in Britain. That strong performance continues. Triumph finished top of last year’s high-capacity sales chart, selling more 500cc+ bikes in the UK than any other manufacturer. The figures show that Triumph's total of 7,562 models sold in 2010 represented a 1.5% increase on their 2009 sales, which itself was a massive 26% up on the previous year. In contrast, BMW took a 23% sales hit. During 2010, Triumph also upped its total market share to 16%, making it Britain’s highest selling manufacturer. By any measure, given the ongoing recession and difficult market conditions, that’s pretty impressive.

So how has Triumph bucked the trend? The suits will talk of “strong branding and model development” and it is true that they’ve released some impressive bikes recently - such as the revamped 2011 Speed Triple, the new Tiger 800 and Daytona 675R. But for bikers the truth is much simpler. After a distinguished history, they nowadays build bikes that people want to buy and own. In doing so, they’ve done what they should have done all those years ago – listened to the customer, focused on reliability and affordability and carved out a niche to be different from the Japanese. They understand their market in a way that perhaps wasn’t the case in its previous incarnation – in that sense, Triumph’s current success is a direct response to the mistakes of the past.

But what of the future? With less money around and the market looking bleaker than a bleak thing from Bleaksville, will bikers keep chasing the latest, flashiest sports bikes? I think they will, but to a lesser extent. Owning a bike is a pretty expensive business these days if you also want decent kit, a few bits of aftermarket bling and the odd performance enhancement. And, in urban areas, are Gixxers, R1s or Duke 996s really the sensible choice? Interestingly, Triumph’s strong market performance comes at a time when they are conspicuously absent from the litre sports bike market. Coincidence?

So, if Triumph are smart, they will continue to focus on affordable, real world biking with a bit of style. The upright Speed Triple is an awesome looking (and performing) bike. Ditto the mid-range Street Triple. The Tiger ticks a lot of the right boxes for a lot of people, the Bonneville and Thunderbird hark back to their glory days and the new Scrambler 600 is gaining a lot of positive column inches. Plus they have the best mid-range sports bike on the planet for those that hanker for such things.

Triumph is a success - and they’re British…we should rejoice at that….