Following the recent announcement that Torrot was taking over the reins of Gas Gas, putting an end to more than ten months of anguish with the factory paralyzed and a situation of total uncertainty, we now have more information about the plans that Torrot Group has with Gas Gas to re-promote the brand as a benchmark in the sector.
The last EICMA Milan Motor Show was a great setting for Iván Contreras, CEO of the Torrot Group, to officially present the new General Manager of Gas Gas Motos, Juan López.
VIDEO PRESENTATION OF JUAN LÓPEZ AS CEO OF GAS GAS
GAS GAS WORKS COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE
Gas Gas plans ambitious goals for the coming years, as explained by Torrot’s CEO, Ivan Contreras, in an interview with ACN. The most imminent is to regain leadership in the trial market next year.
In 2016, 2,000 motorcycles will be built, once the Salt plant is set up, and the goal is to reach 4,000 units per year by 2018.
In enduro, Torrot will work next year on a new bike that is more competitive than the current one to be launched in 2017. Finally, a long-term project is the leap to electric motorcycles, taking advantage of Torrot’s technology. Gas Gas’ first electric offroad, however, does not yet have a date.
Gas Gas does not want to waste time in its relaunch and has already started working on the commercialization of the trial bikes that will begin to be manufactured at the Salt plant from next year. At the recent fair in Milan, several international importers have already placed orders.
In the same way, the Torrot team has contacted the suppliers so that as soon as the factory is up and running, it is expected that this could be during the first quarter of 2016, the necessary components for the assembly of the vehicles will arrive.
This fine-tuning of the machinery stopped in recent months will be carried out in parallel with the transfer to Salt of the factory that Torrot has in Mataró and where it develops electric urban motors. Due to lack of space in the facilities of the capital of the Maresme, the company will maintain only the research and development department.
As for production figures, in 2016 a total of 6,000 motorcycles are expected to be made, of which 2,000 will be for trial environments, a thousand more for enduro and 3,000 for Torrot’s MUVI model, an electric scooter connected at all times on the internet and with a battery range of more than 100 kilometers.
NEW MODELS FOR THE COMING YEARS
By 2018, Torrot plans to reach 4,000 trial bikes for
Gas
Gas, which would make it the market leader in this sector; 6,000 enduro bikes and 5,000 MUVI bikes. In the case of the enduro, however, first it will be necessary to rethink the model, since the current one does not convince the owners of the brand
“The trial bike is ready to industrialize and sell and we already have real orders, but the enduro bike needs improvements because it was not successful in the market,” explained Torrot CEO Ivan Contreras. In this sense, in 2016 there will be “a whole team working to bring out a competitive enduro bike in 2017”.
In relation to the new models of the future, enduro will be the first, but not the only one. In the long term, Torrot’s management plans to combine the best of the two brands in a single vehicle. “Gas Gas has great international power and we want to take advantage of it to bring out a benchmark electric offroad motorcycle, which will be the Gas Gas brand, but developed with Torrot technology.” –
See Gas Gas TX 4820 Electric Trial
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Also in the pipeline are a new electric bicycle from the Torrot brand, as well as an evolution of the new MUVI, made “with carbon fiber to reduce weight and extend range.”
€13 MILLION IN INVESTMENT AND RECOVERY OF WORKERS
Regarding the investment announced and committed to refloat Gas Gas -13 million euros in three years-, Contreras explained that it will be allocated to three large items. A small amount will be used to improve the software, production controls and thus guarantee “quality industrial production”.
A second package will be circulating money that Torrot will use to be able to pay for the purchase of components necessary for the manufacture of the bikes, while a third will be destined to trial competition and the incorporation of professional riders. “Gas Gas is a benchmark in the competition and maintaining the level must revert to the market,” says Contreras.
On the other hand, in addition to the 55 former Gas Gas workers who will be able to keep their jobs, there will be another 30 who will move to a job bank that “will be the first to hire” when the company needs to expand the workforce. The forecast for 2018 is to reach 80 workers.
Text: Gas Gas Committee
