TVS relaunches Flame with single-spark plug

TVS Motor Company today relaunched Flame, a 125cc motorbike, with a single-spark plug ignition system.

The move comes in the wake of the Madras High Court restraining the country's third largest two-wheeler maker from making and selling Flame for using the controversial twin-spark plug system.

A legal tussle is currently on between TVS Motor and Pune-based Bajaj Auto over alleged patent infringement by the former in Flame. The battle between Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor started in September 2007 over a technology called digital twin-spark ignition (DTSi).

Bajaj Auto had accused Chennai-based TVS of illegally replicating its patented DTSi technology in TVS Flame.

However, TVS responded that Flame was fitted with a three-valve engine based on CCVTi (Controlled Combustion Variable Timing Intelligent) technology, which is different from the technology used by Bajaj Auto.

The issue subsequently went to court. On February 19, the Madras High Court passed an interim order barring manufacture and sale of TVS Flame using twin-spark plug ignition technology. TVS Motor went on appeal against the verdict.

The high court ruling came as a major setback for TVS Motor, which has been reeling under falling sales and profit figures.

The company was hoping that Flame, launched on December 13, 2007, would boost sales volumes and strengthen its presence in the executive segment, which constitutes over 50 per cent of the motorcycle market.

The revenue losses for the company on account of this were estimated at Rs 100 crore for the current quarter, according to TVS Motor Chairman and Managing Director Venu Srinivasan.

Addressing reporters at the relaunch of Flame, Srinivasan said that the new Flame was powered by three-valve CCVTi engine technology, developed and patented by Austria-based AVL, which has licensed the technology to TVS in India.

"Nothing has changed in this vehicle except the single-spark plug," he added.

The modified Flame carries a price tag of Rs 46,000 (ex-showroom). The company expects to sell about 15,000 units this month and aims to take it to 25,000 units a month by October this year. The 600-odd Flame vehicles lying with dealers would be reconfigured with single-spark plug ignition, Srinivasan added.

TVS Motor expects to garner a market share of 12 per cent initially in the executive segment.

Flame is also expected to boost export sales of the company as it plans to export to several countries.

Exports are expected to account for about 10 per cent of the company's top line by the end of the current financial year, according to a company official.