The Hindu Business Line : Harish Krishnamachar quits TVS

Mr Krishnamachar has been the visible face of the two-wheeler company and associated with the success of the first indigenously built bike, TVS Victor.

It is learnt that Mr Prasad Narasimhan from Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) is one of the contenders to replace Mr Krishnamachar, who is currently serving the notice period.

When contacted, Mr Krishnamachar confirmed that he was leaving the company. "I have two or three options before me and need to take a call on it," he said. .

Mr Narasimhan is marketing manager with HLL's Home and Personal Care division based at Mumbai.

The exit of Mr Krishnamachar comes at a time when the company has announced plans to stem sales erosion in recent months that include introduction of a new entry-level four-stroke bike.

This is expected to replace the Max range of two-stroke bikes that will be phased out in less than six months time.

TVS also launched 125cc variant of Victor last month, which was expected to bolster the 110cc bike's sales.

A new commercial featuring cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Shoaib Akthar, Jason Gillespie and Bret Lee are backing Victor's 125cc variant.

The company had posted a marginal 0.02 per cent rise in sales at 6.82 lakh units during 2003-04.

In fact, Mr Krishnamachar had told the media a fortnight ago that the company would target 15 per cent growth in the current financial year, bettering the industry expectation of 10 per cent rise in sales.

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