Norton Motorcycles returns home after multi-million dollar purchase
By the Staff of Clutch and Chrome
October 21st, 2008
Some may say
nostalgia is a thing of the past, but a British entrepreneur
is hoping to ride the Norton name down the same road of
success as Triumph Motorcycles.
English
businessman Stuart Garner plans reviving the Norton brand
after buying rights to the name from an American company in
a multi-million dollar deal, including legendary Norton
names such as Commando and Dominator.
 "This has been a challenging and exciting period for us," commented Garner
"We are proud to have brought the brands back home and we now intend to focus on re-establishing Norton as a premier motorcycling brand across the World," he added.
The company plans first to get the 961 Commando produced and
then develop a rotary-engine racing bike and a road bike
for next year.
The first Norton motorbike was produced in 1902 and
production was boosted when the British army began using
them in the First World War. Norton began what many consider
the golden age when the bike dominated the
Isle of Man TT every year from 1947 to 1954.
By the early 1950s the company began to hit financial
problems and passed through the hands of a number of owners,
going out of business in 1976 after an ill-fated merger with
Triumph. In the early nineties the brands were bought by
Norton Motorcycles Inc in the USA with the view of
developing a new Commando road bike for the US market.
Nearly $10 million was spent on IP, design and development,
and this development work has formed part of the new deal.
 The intellectual property, design and development work that
went into developing a new generation Commando form part of
the deal struck by Mr. Garner.
Norton intends to develop a strong presence on the track and on the road during 2009 with a new 15000 sq foot factory and office complex based at Donnington Park - Norton are at the heart of motorcycle racing once again and committed to investment to make the initiative work. As well as creating a new ‘state of the art’ road bike the Norton brands will see a
vigorous licensing program through Norton Global Brands to safeguard and develop licensing of all kinds from spare parts to clothing.
"This is the beginning of a new and exciting era in a brand that was started over 100 years ago by James Lansdowne Norton. It has sustained ups and downs over the years but still stands for performance and excellence. These will be the standards we live by from now on’,"said Garner. |
