Royal Enfield 650 Twins' Sales Bounces Back in July, Bests Rivals Again

Amid the poor performance of the sales department of the retro bike maker Royal Enfield, its two models have defied all odds and bring good news for the company. The Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 and the Continental GT 650 had created quite a buzz in the market when they were launched and fortunately the buzz has translated into good sales as well. The least priced twin-cylinder offerings from the retro bike maker have been performing well on the sales charts ever since their launch in India despite the brand itself going through an overall slump in sales. Not just India but the bikes are also gathering fame all over the world in the global markets.  

Talking of the sales numbers for the bikes in market, although the bikes saw a dip in sales in June, the month of July seems to have brought back good fortune for the 650 twins as the figure for sales in July  stood at 2,225 units. the bikes still continue to lead the segment in terms of sales. Similarly priced single-cylinder rivals of the bikes like the Austrian maker’s KTM 390 Duke could manage only 346 units another Indian maker TVS in the same price range could manage only 237 units of Apache RR310.

Prices for RE Interceptor 650 start at Rs. 2.34 lakh while the sportier café-racer themed Continental GT 650’s prices begin at Rs. 2.57 lakh. Contrast this with other offerings such as Kawasaki Ninja 300 (Rs. 2.98 lakh) and Yamaha YZF-R3 is (Rs. 3.5 lakh). Not just the twin cylinder models, Royal Enfield Interceptor even undercuts single cylinder KTM 390 Duke (Rs. 2.45 lakh). The perennial gripe of the average RE customer and a RE naysayer was the lack of power in the bikes and the vibrations and reliability problem present in the bike. The brand has heard their customers and critics alike and has worked hard on the bikes. The refined nature of these bikes has won the twins many fans in the Indian market.

As far as the specs of the 650 twins are concerned, the company worked hard to develop a new 647cc, parallel twin engine for the Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650. Equipped with an engine that is mostly vibration free, and revs smoothly, the bikes come rated for producing 47 Bhp-52 Nm. Apart from the 6-speed gearbox and slipper clutch as standard, the bikes also come equipped with ABS on both wheels as standard.