Sales of Triumph motorcycles are rising but the manufacturer needs to do more to conquer China and grow exports
British manufacturing's struggles with the cool factor seem immaterial when Steve McQueen is pictured astride a Triumph motorcycle. But such is the government's concern about the generational appeal of industry that it has launched a campaign to get schoolchildren inside factories.
Perhaps it should herd them into showrooms instead, like the one in Vauxhall where an image of the actor trying to jump a Swiss border fence in the Great Escape is paired with photographs of timeless translatlantic hipsters such as Elvis and Clint Eastwood – all gunning the engines of a Triumph.
Turnover at Britain's largest motorcycle maker rose 11% to £345.3m last year as bikes sold climbed 7% to 48,684. Triumph is launching a T100 next year in the style of the McQueen bike and its UK quota of 120 has sold out. But one customer at Metropolis Motorcycle in Vauxhall, London, reckons patriotism plays a bigger role than nostalgia.
"I chose Triumph because I quite like the idea of British mechanics," said Britt Willoughby Dyer, a 39-year-old office manager who bought a Daytona 675 after visiting its Hinckley factory in Leicestershire. "I just love the idea that it's all British-manufactured."
The Triumph brand manager at Metropolis, Tony Woodall, added: "At the moment, the Triumph brand is quite cool to be associated with."
Some 5,000 miles away in Beijing, however, a harder battle will have to be fought for riders' affections – and it is where manufacturers like Triumph need to be able to export to fuel their growth.
The UK alone is just not big enough for Triumph – which also produces bikes in Thailand – and it is unclear whether the image of McQueen and a visit to Hinckley will help the brand trump BMW, Harley Davidson, Kawasaki or Honda outside the domestic market..
The views of Zhang Xiaoye, 31, a driver in Beijing, demonstrate that Triumph has more to do to conquer China. "The motor's vintage style is charming, but Triumph's marketing here is not outstanding. Younger people mostly don't appreciate the design and can't afford the price even if they might do. On the other hand, because of lack of promotion, the brand doesn't get recognised, so older, wealthier people don't necessarily choose it, but tend to buy BMW or Harley," Zhang said.
But Triumph should not need lessons in exporting: 80% of its products are sold outside the UK, in line with the British car manufacturing industry.
Triumph is targeting India and, as it announced a push into the world's second largest motorbike market, appointed Ashish Joshi, the former head of European operations for Indian motorcycle maker Royal Enfield, as its managing director for India.
Exports are a key lesson for entrepreneurs wanting to follow the example of British property developer John Bloor, who bought the manufacturing and name rights to former state-owned business after it went bankrupt in 1983 – 81 years after it first produced motorcycles. Following years of research and development including visits to Japan to look at the manufacturers which had usurped Triumph, the new business was born in 1991. Although the Vauxhall showroom sports classic designs – on modern engines and fittings – such as the Bonneville, it manufactures sleek, modern machines such as the Tiger XC, an adventure sports bike.
Next year exports will play a pivotal role in the performance of many businesses like Triumph, according to Lee Hopley, chief economist of the UK manufacturers' organisation, the EEF. "Global demand has underpinned manufacturing growth over the last couple of years. If a manufacturer is seeing a lot of good UK demand, a lot of that is destined overseas eventually," said Topley, citing the example of a supplier whose product could end up in an exported car, or indeed a Triumph.
The EU accounted for nearly half of all manufactured exports last year but non-EU volumes are up almost 20% in the year to October. If Triumph is to maintain its growth rates, perhaps Zhang needs to become less of an anomaly in his part of Beijing, although Triumph already sells to 35 different countries.
Triumph's chairman, former trade minister Lord Jones, believes successful exporters need four key strengths: efficient manufacturing; innovation; quality; and brand recognition. "If you don't have those four characteristics, you are dead in the water. You don't try to sell something based on price alone.
Rattling through the four points, Jones explained that Triumph pays close attention to its supply chain. It is constantly trying out new ideas, Bloor is obsessed with quality products – "we don't get returns" – and has taken advantage of the company's history.
"Of the four points, brand encapsulates so much. This is the one that answers the question why it has been so successful from Vauxhall to Beijing. It started 100 years ago and it is associated with everything British from the union flag to the [Isle of Man] TT successes."
If Britain is to strike up the "march of the makers" called for by George Osborne, it needs more niche, high-quality manufacturers like Triumph.
According to Jones, exports are vital for Triumph. "You have to export. You have got to be able to sell to a big market. The 65m people in Britain are important for your market but you will never generate the economies of scale that you need."
McQueen's sepia gaze will only shift so many units, he seems to admit.
"John Bloor blended it with everything that is modern and cutting edge. It is not relying on the past."
Additional research by Han Cheng