The Resurrection Continues
I feel like I have to mention this in every article I write about anything Norton-related, but boy; have they had a turbulent decade leading into 2021 with all kinds of twists and turns pulling them away from reaching their goal.
CEO, John Russel mentioned that Norton needs a full facility and not a half-way-home in order to find their ground and pursue success, and that is exactly what they have done.
Norton’s new owners – TVS – has been shelling-out the moolah like nobodies business and pouring millions into the pocket of Norton to facilitate this success and help the heritage resurrection see its final stages.
The financial backing from TVS has allowed for this brand new state-of-the-art production facility to undergo its long building process; it’s finally slated to be finished and ready for the grand unveiling at some point in March of this year.
Norton plans on having this facility be their primary base of operations for the foreseeable future. Not only will production be happening here; all of the planning, designing, meetings, engineering, and the whole shebang will all be taking place under the same roof. I’m sure this will play a healthy role in keeping the company on track and maintaining their sights uniform across their entire production process.
Norton is currently planning on resuming the production of their previous Commando Classic to fulfill the secured pre-orders that were glossed over through the various changes of leadership over the past few years.
“The opening of the new headquarters represents a significant step forward for Norton Motorcycles. The opening of this state-of-the-art facility will create the foundations for a sustainable long-term future of Norton. The new bikes will meet the world class standards our customers expect”, said Sudarshan Venu, Joint Managing Director at TVS Motors.
As a colleague to Kenny Dreer as he worked feverishly to raise Norton from the dead. I hope this is a giant success. Dreer never seems to get the credit for starting Norton up with no plans for ANYTHING but a proprietary engine. No small feat as Motus has sadly also found out.
It seems like the platform is really there. Hopefully TVS can take the vision and run with it. There was a lot of interest in the Nortons modern run but of course they seemed to have just run out of money right as things were getting going – worldwide economics are a #*@%. I would love to see them follow through this time.