Triumph Sets Sales Record but Suffers First Operating Loss Since 2009
Thu, 12 Dec 2013Triumph sold 52,089 motorcycles from its fiscal year ended June 30, 2013, setting a new company record for annual sales. At the same time, the company announced an operating loss of £95,000 (US$155,300), the company’s time in the red since 2009.
Much of the operating loss was caused by foreign currency exchanges and the cost of starting up manufacturing facilities in Brazil and India. In Brazil, Triumph claims a 3.4% market share of sales for motorcycles 500cc and larger in just its first year of operation.
Triumph only started selling motorcycles in India in November, so we’ll need more time to see how that investment pays off. The introduction of two new small-displacement models in 2015, a naked roadster styled after the Speed Triple and a mini-Daytona sportbike, will surely help.
The 52,089 motorcycles sold represent a 6.4% increase on the 48,957 motorcycles sold in the previous fiscal year. The record sales helped boost turnover to an all-time high of £368 million (US$601.7 million), up 7.6% from the prior year.
[Source: Leicester Mercury, the Manufacturer]
By Dennis Chung
See also: Castrol Rocket, Gyronaut X-1 and Jason DiSalvo at New York IMS, 2015 Triumph 250 Cub Spied, 2013 Long Beach International Motorcycle Show Report.