They have a parts plant and assembly plant in Thailand. The industrial complex in Thailand is actually larger than Hinkley with a much larger production capacity. There is no evidence that the motors are not made in Thailand. You cannot believe anything Triumph tells you as they have been less than forthright about Thailand since the beginning.
For two years after they started building in Thailand their web site continued to say all the bikes were manufactured in their modern 21st century plant in Hinckley.
The 11th character in the bike VIN will be a T if it was assembled in Thailand. If you live in the U.S. or Australia you can almost bet you will not see a J in that spot indicating Hinckley.
The production facilities were opened for obvious reasons. EPA issues are non-existent in Thailand, worker rights and wages result in about a 60% reduction in labor costs. You don't have union, worker compensation, vacation, or sick leave to deal with. There are no export tariffs in Thailand making it a very attractive area of for major companies to do business. The Generals took over the govt. function in 2006 so there really is none of that pesky govt. bureaucratic stuff to deal with.
You have asked a valid question. The smartalec comments you have read early in is because of the original arguments when it first happened. There were some that said Triumph is an iconic "Made in England" bike and this is horrible. Others were opposed to the exploitation of a 3rd world nations people for the purpose of profit. Others realized that for every Thai built bike there would be Brits not working. Similar to the 40 plants in Mexico for GM and the unemployment in Detroit.
Luckily, all those ideas have been shouted down and silenced so everybody has gotten behind the idea that its a global market and anything anybody does in business is OK>
Rolex, by the way, now makes watches in Mexico. They deny it but I see them all the time on the border for $50.00.
I really want to know why some of our members are sooooooo upset when Thailand is brought up. Just don't read the thread and you won't stress so much.
Anyhow, that is the Thailand thread in a nutshell.
