Triumph emboldened for future by ‘phenomenal’ success of big-selling Trident

Triumph has revealed its acclaimed Triumph Trident 660 roadster has shifted more than 12,500 sales globally in less than a year to firmly establish the British firm among the class leaders with its debut middleweight naked effort.

Using a scaled down 660cc version of the firm’s flexible three-cylinder engine and slotting in below the Street Triple to become Triumph’s new entry-point into the range, the Trident was well-received by media on its launch just under 12 months ago, an opinion evidently mirrored by customers.

Quickly becoming one of the UK’s best-selling motorcycles in the competitive 600-999cc engine band, the Trident has also done its bit to both dent the dominance of the Yamaha MT-07 and Kawasaki Z650, while driving Triumph onto a sizeable rise in sales figures for 2021.

Speaking to Visordown at the launch of the new Triumph Tiger Sport 660 - a sports adventure model, the first to be spun off from the Trident 660 platform - Miles Perkins, Head of Brand Management says Triumph have been blown away by the positive feedback and resultant sales.

“A lot of work went into developing a bike to go into a new category, not just a model but the planning as well, so to see the Trident hit the market 12 months ago and globally to ship more than 12,500 is phenomenal. 

“Better still, the feedback from the customers, dealers and media has been incredibly strong and what we are hoping to see from the Tiger Sport is a similar reception.”

The launch of the Tiger Sport 660 creates another set-piece with Yamaha in the fight for segment dominance, with the firm’s Tracer 7 currently the segment leader in terms of sales and press opinion.

More practical and versatile than the Trident, while there had been calls for a so-called ‘Tiger Cub’ to rival the Yamaha Tenere 700 and Aprilia Tuareg 660, Triumph’s Perkins explains feedback suggested a softer, sportier Sport has greater relevance for its demographic.

“It’s hard to know with sales at the moment because of the global situation for buying and riding at the moment, but given this brings the same advantages as the Trident and is going head-to-head with the same brands with their versions of the bike, this has the highest power in the category and tech features that others don’t have. 

“In terms of how important the Tiger name is, that is our name for adventure but in the adventure world there are two flavours - adventure in the off-road sense in terms of styling and ability - but there are an awful lot of motorcycles in the sport focused adventure world. 

The Triumph Tiger Sport 660 comes amid a slew of new models from the Hinckley firm over the last 24 months, from major launches like the Trident, Tiger 900 and Speed Triple 1200 RS and RR, plus updates to the Street Triple range, the Triumph Bonneville and James Bond-inspired special editions.

It doesn’t end there either with the new Triumph Tiger 1200 getting an overhaul before the end of the year, while work is now well underway for Triumph’s burgeoning ‘baby’ range of models in the 250-400cc range built in conjunction with Indian firm Bajaj.

“We are always listening and I think it would be fair to say Triumph is prolific in launching or developing new motorcycles, even I’ve lost count of the number of motorcycles we have got this year.

“That isn’t to say it’s an endless machine, each bike has its own team and years of development going into it. We want to build the brand, grow Triumph around the world and bring more people to it.”