It’s taken a while, but according to reports from India, manufacturing giant Mahindra has purchased the BSA marque through a subsidiary.
BSA has been on the market for years — it’s surprising it’s taken this long to sell, although issues with copyright infringement and other problems complicated the affair. While Royal Enfield, Triumph, and now even Norton have all been back in business for a while, BSA remained the Brit Bike That Couldn’t, with no modern-day revival of the brand.
But things change. Mahindra, seeing the explosive growth in the sub-continent’s motorcycle industry, particularly by Royal Enfield, has purchased the brand after months of rumours, and it may be a good fit. Mahindra has pockets deep enough to set BSA back on track, and settle all the legal complications around the brand. Mahindra also has a long history of involvement with iconic vehicles, building its own versions of classic tractors and Jeeps; if it brings that experience to BSA, we could see a rebirth similar to Royal Enfield’s update of their own lineup: Classic bikes that can still be fixed by the user, but blended with modern technology where it counts.
Mahindra has already purchased the Peugeot scooter brand, and made the purchase of BSA through their Classic Legends subsidiary.
Given Mahindra’s nature as a manufacturer, that’s almost certainly the plan: Start manufacturing. While there are undoubtedly millions of dollars to be had in T-shirt sales and other merchandising efforts, Mahindra is known as a company that builds cool stuff, and that’s what we’d expect, not just another zombie brand revival to cash in on a classic marque.
[…] with their purchase of rights to the BSA marque last week, Indian vehicle manufacturer Mahindra has also made a similar deal with […]
Would be pretty cool to see my BSA going again, but it ain’t happening soon …
Just so you know.
Mahindra have bought the BSA Company Ltd.
The principal business of BSA is licensing of brands related to motorcycles.
This acquisition enables Mahindra through their subsidiary Classic Legends, to use the BSA brand name for marketing and distributing motorcycles globally.
We, Ripe Motorcycles Ltd have been welcomed and retain our licence to produce the BSA Off Road Electric Bikes for children.
This is exciting as, while we are just a drop in the ocean, Mahindra’s company growth portfolio is focused on electric vehicles.
Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra is the Chairman of the Formula E Sustainability Committee.
Currently the only BSA motorcycle being produced is the BSA TAG 1000W Electric Trail Bike, and it is Made in England by Ripe Motorcycles.
[…] Brit bike marque BSA has been purchased by Mahindra, making it the latest English vehicle manufacturer to be bought up by overseas owners. Now, BSAs […]
Way cool seeing as they already produce bikes as Royal Enfield this may be a great move for the motorcycle industry
They are certainly doing well in Moto3
Interesting – would be pretty cool to see the BSA badge going again.