Indian motorcycle company Royal Enfield is planning a massive push to increase sales with a push to launch new product every quarter for the next few years. After one of the hardest quarters in the company’s 119 year history, Royal Enfield CEO Vinod Dasari has unveiled this massive plan in an interview with India’s Car and Bike. RE sold just 91 motorcycles in India in April, thanks to a massive global coronavirus lockdown, compared to over 60,000 bikes pre-corona May 2019.
Since the launch of the INT 650 and Continental GT in 2018, Enfield has been pushing an ambitious company revamp to not only fit the needs of its home market in India, but to remake itself as a global brand with products acceptable to American and European buyers. Next on the docket is a new bike, rumoured to be called Meteor 350, which Dasari says will launch as soon as the company can shake off its covid-19 induced stupor. The current launch date is expected to be this month.
In addition to the Meteor, rumours seem to indicate that as many as 14 new models are coming from RE. Dasari confirmed that theory by stating that a new bike would be coming every three months or so for the next three or four years. Four new bikes a year for four years? Sounds like a plan.
Also on the docket? A larger 750cc twin version of the Himalayan adventure bike, a new 250cc engine that could find its way into a bunch of chassis, and a potential EV motorcycle. I like the sound of all of that. Judging by how much I loved my time on the INT 650, Royal Enfield has a very bright future ahead of it. Don’t count the world’s oldest motorcycle manufacturer out just yet, it’s planning for the future and is going to come out swinging.