Triumph Motorcycles has warned of up to 50 jobs losses at its 海角视频 headquarters under plans to make Thailand its main centre of manufacturing.
The 海角视频 bike giant has written to staff at its Hinckley production line warning of redundancies in manufacturing and IT.
It said the site will become a new global centre of research and development, leading to more than 20 new design engineer jobs.
Hinckley will still make its prototype and bespoke models.
The business said it was 鈥渞ealigning鈥 operations as part of its global ambitions to double its share of the Asian market over the next three years - not including a new partnership with Indian manufacturer Bajaj.
In a letter to staff, chief executive Nick Bloor said they were consulting about 海角视频 job losses in areas such as its assembly line, machine shop, weld shop and in IT, as well as a new state-of-the art paint shop which only opened a couple of years ago.
It said: 鈥淲hilst we appreciate that this will be difficult for those affected, please be assured that we will do everything we can to support you.鈥
A spokesman for the business said between 6,000 to 7,000 of the 65,000-or so bikes it was making each year are produced in the 海角视频.
He said by just making prototypes and bespoke models in the 海角视频, the Hinckley number would drop to around 4,500.
In a statement Mr Bloor said: 鈥淲e are now preparing for Triumph鈥檚 next wave of strategic growth.
鈥淲e want to maximise the growth opportunity for the brand globally, particularly in the Asian markets.
鈥淭his is why we are increasing our design resources here in the 海角视频, and focusing our mass production capabilities in Thailand.
鈥淭here will still be manufacturing capability in the 海角视频 but the role of our facility in Hinckley will be reconfigured to enable us to create a more flexible and high-value capability.鈥
The company added: 鈥淭he move to a more specialist production facility does mean, however, that there will be between 40 and 50 redundancies from the company鈥檚 manufacturing workforce in the 海角视频.鈥
Only last month Triumph kickstarted a new venture with Bajaj Group 鈥 one of the biggest companies in India 鈥 which will eventually see a new range for the Asian market with a starting price of around 拢2,000.
The companies are working on a range of mid-capacity bikes which will give Triumph a new entry point to high-volume, growing markets across Asia.
The new range will be badged Triumph but built by Bajaj and will see a new engine and bike platform built in the mid-capacity, 200cc-750cc range.
Triumph, which dates back to 1902, now has six factories around the world, including the global headquarters in Hinckley.
It is the 海角视频鈥檚 biggest bike manufacturer, and employs around 2,000 people.
Turnover grew to 拢529.5 million in the year to last June, when it made 60,131 bikes.
Pre-tax profits rose from 拢9 million to 拢9.5 million, while the amount spent developing new models rose from 拢36 million to 拢43.4 million.
The business said Hinckley would be known as its 鈥淐entre of Excellence for Research and Development鈥, leading to 鈥渕ore than鈥 20 new design engineer roles.
They would help with the development of more new models over the next decade, and support the planned international growth.
The plans involve setting up a new 16,000 sq ft design centre and a new assembly line to make it easier to build specialist prototype bikes and its high-end bespoke bikes such as its Triumph Factory Custom bikes.
The Thai plants will become its 鈥淐entre of Excellence for Manufacturing鈥.
In the last five years, Triumph has increased its design engineering headcount by 40 per cent and its investment in new model development by 80 per cent.
It said that increased investment in R&D had allowed it to continue to strengthen its product range, launching 14 new bikes in the last two years such as the Rocket III R and GT, the limited edition Moto2 Daytona 765 and new Tiger 900 and Street Triple ranges.
