Newsan added another business: it will start selling Siamese -branded motorcycles

The Fuegian Newsan team will add a new business unit. In the next month and after studying it for many years, the company will launch 3 models of motorcycles under the Siam brandtwo with traditional combustion and one electric, representing its entry into a business led by Honda, Motomel and Corven. At first, the plan is to assemble the units at its plant in Monte Chingolo -where they now make small electrical appliances- and are also adding other models in the coming months, with the aim of retaining at least 10% of the market.

Newsan’s commitment to motorcycles has been on the cards for years. The holding company of businessman Rubén Cherñajovsky, for example, is one of those interested in buying Zanella, whose assets (brands and plants) were the axis of a fierce legal dispute, which was finally won by Iraola Group, the maker of Corven. “A year ago, we continued the project and decided it was a good time to go to market,” he said. Clarion Guillermo Contarino, manager of the Newsan motorcycle area.

The official launch is scheduled for June and includes it the presentation of two modelsone with 110 cc combustion, the lowest displacement and the most in demand in the country, and an electric scooter. The third is 150 cc, which will also carry a vintage siam logo, an emblematic stamp of Argentine industry in the first half of the 20th century. That’s the beginning, “because later the power companies will be recognized with the Philco brand,” Contarino added.

The debut date has to do with the resurgence of motorcycle sales. According to data from the ACARA motorcycle division, in the accumulated up to April, 150,130 units were shipped, which represents an increase of 27.7% compared to the first quarter of last year. The same report highlights that the 5 best selling models are 110 cc (Honda Wave 110, Motomel B110, Gilera Smash, Corven Energy 110 and Keller KN 110-8). In the sector they plan to close the year there were approximately 420 thousand motorcycles sold.

Newsan again appealed to the symbols to form a line of business. In this case Siam, which in the 1940s became the largest metal making company in the region: it made everything from cars (the Siam Di Tella) to all kinds of equipment. He also created Siambretta, an Italian-inspired Argentine motorized scooter that was very popular between 1954 and 1967. The remnants of the Siamese empire were passed into the hands of the Fuegian conglomerate in 2014, which reopened the Avellaneda plant to make refrigerators. “In the public between 40 and 50 years old, the brand is recognized, but in younger ones you have to start with 0”, Contarino admits.

Motorcycles represent another leap in the business of urban mobility, which was all the rage during the pandemic. Newsan incorporated bicycles (controlled by Chinese brands Battle and Philco) as well as electric skateboards. The strategy, now, is to occupy an important part of the local motorcycle market, which they consider more fragmented and controversial than other countries in the region. “Argentina is more complex. Brazil and Mexico are more focused on international brands, such as Honda, Yamaha and BMW,” Contarino details.