TVS Motor will launch the Apache RTR 160 in the US this year, the world’s most developed automobile market. If TVS Motors enters the US, it will be the second indigenous company to foray into that market, the first being Royal Enfield. Another Indian company, Mahindra & Mahindra plans to introduce its flagship Scorpio SUV in the US next year.

TVS Motors has cleared the mandatory technical and emission tests for its bike and plans to launch it later this year. TVS has held negotiations with Classic Motorworks, an importer and distributor of two-wheeler in the US, which already distributes Royal Enfield Motorcycles - Bullet, Classic and Croma in the US.

TVS will start shipping bikes in the next few months. TVS is not expecting big volumes, but looking at high brand leverage in the US, a predominant high-end big bike market like the Triumph, Harley Davidson, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha. TVS has presence in a few overseas markets, including a 300,000-units a year manufacturing facility in Indonesia, and also sells its bikes, scooters and mopeds in Latin America, South-East Asia and Africa.