Royal Enfield Working On More Affordable Bike To Plug Dipping Sales in India

Royal Enfield has the achievement of being the oldest brand in motorcycle industry that has been in continuous production. However, things have not been going so well for the brand recently as amid the industry wide slowdown, the retro bike maker has reported a sales decline of double digits in the recent months. This comes after the brand saw a growth in sales of double digits in the recent years. Perhaps, the reason behind the sales of the brand jumping off a cliff could be the steady rise in the cost of bikes that the country has witnessed due to the BS-IV emissions regime, mandatory insurance rule, and compliance to BNVSAP norms. The recent launches from the brand like the Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 are performing good in their segments but they are not mass volume movers and therefore, despite their success, the sales of the company has taken a dive.

We had recently informed you that the company is therefore looking at bringing out smaller displacement bikes in the market that will sell in good numbers. Now there are reports on the internet stating that the brand may bring out a more affordable bike based on the Bullet series of bikes. While the brand is working on updating their line-up in the Indian market and shift them to a newer platform the reason behind the choice of the old platform for the upcoming small bike is to keep the costs low.

To put things into perspective, the lowest priced Royal Enfield bike in the market is priced at Rs. 1.21 ex-showroom. There are a lot of better performing and more youth-centric models present in the market at this point. The advent of Japanese motorcycle companies in the 1-1.5 lakh rupee segment with models like Suzuki Gixxer and Yamaha R15 as well as other competitors like the KTM’s models means that the Royal Enfield has seen its customer base of youth looking for fast bikes being weaned off by the foreign brands.

Talking about this new upcoming affordable bike by Royal Enfield, the innards are not expected to change, but the aesthetic aspect of the bike will surely be changed to suit the tastes of the young customer base in the market. One can expect the bike to come with a design that resembles the Thunderbird X bikes with more attractive paint scheme and blacked out engine bits.