Norton has signed a £20 million export deal with Japan, which will see around 1000 new motorbikes sold to Japanese customers over the next five years.
It is one of a series of trade agreements announced between Britain and Japan – which the Government says is worth more than £200 million – during a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Kay Johnson, head of global sales and marketing at Norton motorcycles said: “Norton has 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 £20m. 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.”
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Some 83% of Norton’s components are made in the UK, and the bikes are shipped around the globe with just 20% of machines sold in the UK.
The Norton factory is already expanding, with a new production facility at Donington, and a joint venture plan to build Nortons in Pune, India. Norton CEO Stewart Garner has also been in China, where he has secured a long-term deal to put Norton in 100 stores across the country.
