TVS Motor Company on Thursday unveiled its latest scooter — the NTORQ 150 — as it looks to capitalise on the country’s “scooterisation wave” and sharpen its focus on premium offerings.
The NTORQ 150, described by the company as a “hyper sport scooter,” has been launched at an ex-showroom price of Rs 1,19,000 in Bengaluru. With this, TVS has made its entry into the above-125cc scooter category, a space currently led by Piaggio and Yamaha. The NTORQ brand, which was first introduced as a 125cc scooter in 2018, has since clocked sales of more than 2 million units. The arrival of the NTORQ 150 is expected to give TVS Motor a stronger foothold in the premium scooter segment. The company has spent Rs 100 crore on capex for this product.
Tapping into the growing sporty scooter segment
Aniruddha Haldar, senior vice president – head, commuter & EV business, TVS Motor Company, said that while the two-wheeler industry has grown at a CAGR of 2% over the past three years, scooters as a category have expanded faster at 6%, with sporty scooters registering an even sharper 11% growth. “So scooters grew at three times the rate of two-wheelers, and sporty scooters grew at two times the rate of scooters,” he said.
Positioned as the quickest scooter in its class, the NTORQ 150 is capable of accelerating from 0–60 km/h in just 6.3 seconds.
Gaurav Gupta, president – India 2W business, TVS Motor Company, highlighted the significance of the sporty scooter segment for the company as well as the broader two-wheeler industry. “From a sheer size perspective, it is fast growing already at 70,000-plus and it’s becoming close to 100,000 per month. It’s almost 20% of the total industry,” he said.
“Our focus in this space is, therefore, warranted. We would like to consolidate our position in the segment,” he added.
The scooter, with a top speed of 104 km/hour, is being offered in two variants — NTORQ 150 and NTORQ 150 with TFT Cluster — and six colour options.
GST rate cuts to drive industry and product momentum
Gupta further explained that the current pricing of the NTORQ 150 has been worked out on the basis of the prevailing GST tax structure. “The new rates, which will come into picture in a few days from now, would of course get reworked across the entire segment and the industry as well,” he said.
He said the GST reduction on ICE two-wheelers — from 18% to 5% — would provide a significant boost to the industry. He also clarified that the GST rate cut on ICE scooters will not impact the momentum on electric two-wheeler growth. “The needs and the requirements of EV and ICE scooter buyers are quite different,” he said.
Shares of TVS Motor ended 1% higher at Rs 3,426.90 on the NSE.