After a much anticipated wait, customers who booked their new UM motorcycles will finally be getting delivery of the machines. The first set of motorcycles were set to go on sale earlier this year, but got delayed due to rectifications that had to be made on the final product, based on consumer feedback.
US-based UM International, LLC and Lohia Motors, India in 2014 joined hands to form UM Lohia Two-Wheelers Pvt. Ltd. (UML). Manufacturing of the motorcycles has already been underway at Lohia Auto’s Kashipur facility in Uttarakhand, while the company’s headquarters are based in New Delhi. It currently produces 1,000-1,500 motorcycles a month, but the plant has a production capacity of up to 50,000 (over 4000 per month) motorcycles annually.
During an interview with Juan Villegas, Business Development, UM International LLC, and Rajeev Mishra, Director, UM India and AMEA (Asia, Middle-East, Africa), Mishra said, “There are 50 dealerships across India which are already equipped to handle service and spares.”
UML plans to follow the ‘Make in India’ formula and claims that 60 percent of the motorcycle parts are sourced from Indian suppliers. During the initial stages of manufacture engine components are being sourced from China and Thailand; these parts will be manufactured in India eventually. And despite being an American brand, UM plans to manufacture the motorcycles here in India and ship them to its home country.
This new manufacturer in the Indian market has highly ambitious plans, and intends to launch a new motorcycle every six months. There was even talk of introducing a smaller-displacement adventure- tourer motorcycle; currently a 125cc, fuel-injected, single-cylinder version is being developed for European markets. For the Indian market, we will probably see a model with slightly higher displacement. There are also 400-600cc versions being developed with a twin-cylinder engine layout.
With UM claiming it already has about 4,000 bookings for the Renegade Commando and Sport S, there has been talks of starting an riding club for owners, called Rebels on Bikes (ROBS). Motorcycle customisation parts and UM apparel should also be available in the near future. The bike maker also plans to launch the Renegade Classic model in April 2017; it will be equipped with Electronic Fuel Injection to meet stricter emission norms, as well as ABS, which may or may not be optional.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
