Norton Motorbike | Photo credits: Leicester Mercury
British motorcycle manufacturer Norton, have concluded a new and important deal with Japan. The announcement was made during the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the UK last week, and means Norton will receive £20m, money that will be used to revamp their plant in Castle Donington and hire 200 new workers.
This new deal, made in conjunction with Norton’s Japanese distributor PCI Limited, will see the British brand delivering and extra 1000 motorcycles to Japanese riders over the next five years’ period.
Norton Head of Global Sales and Marketing Kay Johnson, said: “Norton have an agreement with our distributor, PCI Limited in Japan, which will run over a five-year term to manufacture over 1000 bikes and will achieve an estimated value of £5m. We very much look forward to growing our workforce to support the demand for motorbikes in this territory and, in doing so, continue to build a strong trading business with Japan”.
With all the confusion surrounding the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, and what the Brexit might mean for UK based companies, this is good news for Norton, since 80% of their production is sold outside the UK, but at the same time, 83% of their motorcycle components are built in the UK.