Iconic American cycling brand Trek Bicycle launches in India

Trek Bicycle, a bicycle manufacturer from United States has forayed the India market. Trek India will offer 34bicycle models across road, mountain, and hybrid categories in the premium and super premium segment. These will be available across its dealers in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Indore. Trek owners and cycling enthusiasts will also be able to choose from a wide range of cycling parts, accessories, merchandise, and riding gear under the brand name Bontrager. During the launch indianretailer.com caught up with Navneet Banka, Country Manager, Trek Bicycle India.

Premium bikes are the very niche category in the India. What is your initial projection about the market?

Trek is operational to Indian market sinc 2006. Off course, that time we had entered via local partner, though, this time we are 100% wholly own subsidiary of trek bicycle corporation. So, we are selling bikes here since long time now. If you talk about market, we already have more than 27,000 consumers in India who have bought from us. If we talk about overall market, super premium bike segment in India has been growing at CGR of 20% since last five years.

So how has been your journey from 2006 to 2018?

So we had a very fruitful partnership in India which lasted more than ten years. However, we were keen come as subsidiary and make a bigger commitment to market. We wanted to work very closely with retailers in order to make them educated and bring them to next level in terms of knowledge. Thus, they can offer different kind of experience to prospective consumer.

So, are you looking to open your retail stores as well? Otherwise, what are the plans to have exclusive distribution?

We have already tied up with many retail partners. In fact, we have already coved 11 different cities via different dealers/ retailers network. As we go forward, we will continue to scout potential partners not necessarily with bicycle retailers but also in other segments such as fashion, lifestyle, heath & fitness etc. The key thing for us is to offer right kind of experience.

 Customer experience is the core of the brand. We are also working towards taking the retail experience to next level. In fact, we have developed a technical training centre at our corporate office where we invite all dealership sales consultants and their technician to train them. We are investing heavily in training programs specifically designed for dealers on how to improve the consumer experience.

What are the plans for tier II market?

We are already there in the tier II market. We have extensive presence in cities such as Indore, Haldwani, and Vijayawada amongst others.

What are the plans to expand the portfolio?

We will keep on adding to existing portfolio. The portfolio varies based upon the country we operate in. There is no global or fixed portfolio.

Are you looking at e-commerce channel either exclusive or market places as far as online distribution is concerned?

As I mentioned earlier, the core of the brand is the experience which might be missing in the case of online. As of now, we have no plans to go online.