TVS Motor Company

History

T. V. Sundram Iyengar began with Madurai's first bus service in 1911 and founded TVS, a company in the transportation business with a large fleet of trucks and buses under the name of Southern Roadways.

Early history

Sundaram Clayton was founded in 1962 in collaboration with Clayton Dewandre Holdings, United Kingdom. It manufactured brakes, exhausts, compressors and various other automotive parts. The company set up a plant at Hosur in 1976, to manufacture mopeds as part of their new division. In 1980, TVS 50, India's first two-seater moped rolled out of the factory at Hosur in Tamil Nadu, India. A technical collaboration with the Japanese auto giant Suzuki Ltd. resulted in the joint-venture between Sundaram Clayton Ltd and Suzuki Motor Corporation, in 1987. Commercial production of motorcycles began in 1989.{{cite web |access-date=28 September 2010 |archive-date=13 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013054355/http://www.moneycontrol.com/company-facts/sundaram-clayton/history/SC |url-status=live

Recent

Recent launches include the flagship model TVS Apache RTX 300, TVS Apache RR 310, the TVS Apache RTR 200, TVS Victor and TVS XL 100. TVS has recently won 4 top awards at J.D. Power Asia Pacific Awards 2016, 3 top awards at J.D. Power Asia Pacific Awards 2015 and Two-Wheeler Manufacturer of the Year at NDTV Car & Bike Awards (2014–15).

In early 2015, TVS Racing became the first Indian factory team to take part in the Dakar Rally, the world's longest and most dangerous rally. TVS Racing partnered with French motorcycle manufacturer Sherco, and named the team Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team. TVS Racing also won the Raid de Himalaya and the FOX Hill Super Cross held at Sri Lanka. In three decades of its racing history, TVS Racing has won over 90% of the races it participates in.

In 2016, TVS started manufacturing the BMW G310R, a model co-developed with BMW Motorrad after their strategic partnership in April 2013. In December 2018, the Hosur plant where the motorcycle is manufactured rolled out its 50,000th G310R series unit.

On 6 December 2017, TVS launched their most-awaited motorcycle, the Apache RR 310 in an event at Chennai. The 310 cc motorcycle with an engine which was co-developed with BMW features the first ever full fairing on a TVS bike, dual-channel ABS, EFI, KYB suspension kits, etc. It is expected to rival bikes like KTM RC 390, Kawasaki Ninja 250SL, Bajaj Pulsar and Dominar and Honda CBR 250R after hitting the market. The Apache RR 310 is designed and realised entirely in India.

On 17 April 2020, TVS Motor Company acquired Norton Motorcycle Company in an all cash deal. In the short term, they continued production of Norton 961 Commando motorcycles at Donington Park using existing staff. The Donington factory has closed, and production of the uprated 961 is carried out at Solihull.

In September 2025, TVS Motor Company announced that it would acquire Engines Engineering S.p.A., an Italian engineering firm and auto design company.

References

References

1. (8 February 2022). "TVS appoints Ralf Speth as chairman; Venu Srinivasan to continue as MD". Moneycontrol.
2. (5 May 2022). "Sudarshan Venu elevated as new Managing Director of TVS Motor".
3. "TVS Motor Q4 result: Net profit up 15% to Rs 387 cr, revenue jumps 25%". screener.
4. "TVS Motor Company Ltd. Financial Statements". Moneycontrol.
5. (12 September 2023). "Sudarshan Venu appointed as MD of TVS Holdings". Financial Express.
6. Sharma, Amit. (13 December 2018). "TVS Rolls Out 50,000 Unit of The BMW G310R and G310 GS".
7. "TVS Apache RR 310 BS-VI Price, Features, Specifications and Colours".
8. (17 April 2020). "Norton Motorcycles SOLD to Indian giant TVS for £16million".
9. [https://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-reviews/norton/commando-961/2023/ MCN review 2023-]
10. [https://www.staffordshire-live.co.uk/news/local-news/norton-motorcycles-moves-new-hq-4937483 Staffordshire life review]
11. (2025-09-25). "TVS to acquire Italy's Engines Engineering, sets up global centre of excellence in Bologna". The Economic Times.