Norton Motorcyclesmade its mark upon the world as a maker of high-performance bikes. Their products were sporty by design and nature. The brand has numerous TT victories under its belt, and that tradition continued well into the 1960s and occasionally later.

Numerous resurrections

但我们都知道,品牌国际泳联已经严重ncial difficulties over the years with multiple sales of the company and several cases of the company closing its doors.

After the company went intoadministration under Stuart Garner’s leadership and criminal activity, Indian moto manufacturerTVS Motorpurchased what was left of the once storied company.

TVS implications

TVS is now investing more than $125M in Norton and is building a new state-of-the-art facility in Solihull, England. It is also bringing its technological expertise, new management, and highly qualified personnel to help Norton regain its storied past.

So that means Norton is going to build some new, technologically advanced, racy machines, doesn’t it? Well, not really. And this is what will mark the new Norton from the old ones.

One of the new management team is Christian Gladwell. Christian is Norton’s new CCO and is responsible for designing, developing, and approving Norton’s commercial strategy. It looks like his new vision for Norton is quite different from Norton’s past.

Gladwell is not your average C-suite executive. He served eight years as an officer in the British Army and spent three years on Wall Street. He then moved to the mobile and media industries and now finds himself at Norton. Now, it is becoming clear that Gladwell sees Norton’s path ahead quite differently than his predecessors. This became known as the result of an interview with Hot Cars where he is quoted as saying:

“My background is in luxury and digital.”–基督教格拉德威尔热车

But perhaps most telling is his statement about the “new” Norton. Gladwell is quoted as saying:

“We don’t talk about supersport we talk about exotica.”–基督教格拉德威尔热车

Hmm… luxury, and exotica, i.e., premium, desirable products. Does that sound familiar? Can you think of another motorcycle manufacturer building its brand around “desirability” and “premium” branding?

Harley-Davidson business approach?

This is Harley-Davidson’s approach. Under the leadership of Jochen Zeitz, Harley-Davidson has cut production and made desirability and premium features the selling points of its model lineup, and for years, that’s worked.

When Zeitz became the CEO of Harley-Davidson in May of 2020, the company’s stock had dwindled to about $20 a share. Now, a little more than two years later, the company’s stock sits at a little over $40 a share. Profitability is also up now, sitting over 11 percent, with more than a $1.8B gross profit in the trailing 12 months. So at least at first blush, Zeitz’s strategy seems to be working and is quite successful.

TVS’s strategy and Norton’s future

TVS’s strategy for the “new” Norton is one for the long term. Gladwell told Hot Cars. It is great to hear that TVS has a long-term strategy for Norton. But what will it do in the interim as it builds the company for the future? First, they are taking the previous Norton V4SS and turning it into the V4SV. If you saw the prototype when it originally debuted, the machine will be considerably different when released. The development team has made many changes. But if you think the new Norton V4SV is designed to be a race machine, it is not. While the latest Norton is intended to be “fast,” the bike’s target owners are more in tune with design and detail, not faster lap times. Gladwell told Hot Cars:

“This is about investment in cutting edge, state-of-the-art technology, with a hand finish over the top.”–基督教格拉德威尔热车

Although the V4SV is the machine that Norton needed relatively quickly, it does not reflect Norton’s design aspirations.

“Motorcycling is changing. In the ’90s and noughties, it was all about head down, arse up, ‘let’s go really fast’, and now it’s about, ‘let’s use this machine to express myself and explore.’”

“The [recently announced] Commandowill become our motorcycle for people to express their personalities, and that means providing the ability to personalize it.”–基督教格拉德威尔热车

Personalization. Does that sound like a trait of a well-known American brand? Yes, it does.

Ultimately, it seems that the TVS Norton is headed in a very different direction than its predecessor companies. Speed is out; luxury is in. And while the new strategy may displease some of Norton’s faithful, the new Norton’s plan is following the path of at least one successful company. We will have to wait and see if the new Norton can bring the marque back to its early prominence.