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TRIUMPH THAILAND FACTORY VISIT
BY ALAN CATHCART
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PSKSESY EIPSYSKSNOK
OUT EAST
Alan Cathcart takes a tour
of the new Triumph Motorcycles
plant in Thailand
T
riumph Motorcycles sold 56,253 units in
the year ending June 30, 2016—the most
recent period for which the Hinckley-based
British manufacturer that's still privately owned by
the Bloor family has so far released figures. This
was a healthy 4.5% increase over the 53,812
bikes sold the previous year, and 85.3% of them
found homes outside the UK in the more than
40 countries around the world in which Triumph
markets its products. This allowed the company
to increase its global revenues by $66.8 mil-
lion to $484 million that year, with profit before
exceptional costs almost doubling, up 90.8% to
$19.7 million.
But, in fact, around 80% of those motorcycles
were manufactured in Triumph's three factories
in Thailand, even if they incorporated some key
components such as crankshafts and camshafts
produced in the company's two factories in the
UK at Hinckley, then shipped out East. Equally,
there are many components manufactured in
Thailand which are sent to Hinckley for instal-
lation in the bikes built there. It's all part of a
globalization policy inaugurated by John Bloor in
2002, when he built his first wholly owned plant
TRIUMPH
THAILAND
