TVS has not revealed much about this upcoming vehicle to be revealed on July 6th
TVS recently revealed a new teaser stating that it was going to launch a new vehicle on July 6th. The teaser had a ‘T’ insignia that looked like a DRL of a vehicle. The invite also had a hashtag saying ‘New Way Of Life’. This had us scratching our heads because TVS somehow has the capability of sneakily getting a product launched without getting papped at all. We have seen this with TVS’ Raider launch.
We previously predicted that it could be a Zeppelin R that was recently trademarked or a Creon electric scooter or a lifestyle adventure-tourer based on the RR 310 platform. But with the LED headlight getting leaked, we have a clearer picture about TVS’ upcoming launch on July 6th.
TVS Retron Retro-Themed Bike
Do you know what is common between Royal Enfield motorcycles, Yezdi motorcycles, Jawa motorcycles, Yamaha FZ-X, Honda H’ness CB350, Kawasaki Z650RS and Street Twins from Triumph? They’re all retro-themed modern motorcycles and they have one design element that is quintessential and screams retro, a round headlight.
Round headlight is that design element that has stood the test of time. It is one of the most timeless design elements and will stay that way for centuries to come. TVS’ new headlight is also round and the way it is shaped and sized, makes us easily discard the possibility of it being on a scooter. We just don’t see it happening. It is, no doubt, a fitting element on a retro-themed motorcycle by TVS.
TVS had trademarked the name Retron, likely for the launch of a retro-themed motorcycle. TVS has also trademarked the name Zepplin R. We have seen India’s thirst for retro-themed motorcycles and a cruiser bike like Zeppelin R is a hard sell in India. The hardships of a cruiser bike are visible as we recently saw Suzuki discontinue its Intruder 150 cruiser motorcycle in India.
Considering the T shaped LED DRL, we think it makes more sense to be on a Retron. Additionally, in new TVS vehicles, there is this new design trend, where you get to see the shape of one of the letters from the name, inside the LED DRL. Happened with NTORQ, and more recently with Raider. Retron as the letter T, which is the shape of the LED DRL in a new leaked photo and the launch invite. Interestingly, sometime last year, a test mule of a TVS Retron was spied.
New Way Of Life
TVS also has a hashtag saying ‘New Way Of Life’ and this could mean a lot of things for Retron. For one, it might get an adventure-tourer avatar like Hero XPulse 200, Royal Enfield Himalayan 411 and Yezdi Adventure or a scrambler avatar like Yezdi Scrambler, Royal Enfield Scram 411, or even the smaller FZ-X.
We have seen the rise in popularity of adventure tourers and scramblers in India and a lot of Indian motorcycle manufacturers have jumped on this bandwagon. We can easily see a manufacturer like TVS in a segment like this as it never created a product catering to adventure-tourers or scramblers before.
TVS currently has a lot of platform choices for basing the Retron on. But the most probable options are the 200 cc 4V engine found on Apache RTR 200 4V and its flagship 312 cc engine doing duties in Apache RR 310. If the upcoming adventure-tourer or scrambler version of Retron is based on the former, it will compete with the likes of Hero XPulse 200 4V and if based on the latter, it takes the fight to the big dogs like Yezdi and Royal Enfield bikes. Either way, July 6th will be one hot event from TVS.
