Royal Enfield to introduce two new engine platforms

Royal Enfield, the two-wheeler division of Eicher Motors, is developing two new engine platforms on which multiple new products will be launched, as early as next year. 

"We are developing two new engine platforms on which multiple products could be launched. The new products would be in the range of 250 cc and 750 cc and we expect to see product introductions starting next year," Eicher Motors Ltd Managing Director and CEO Siddhartha Lal said in a conference call.

Elaborating on the new products, Lal said the company would stick to its core strengths and would not go in for bikes which are "extreme and very sporty".

"We would stick to our core proposition. The bikes would be for international markets and they would be higher performance bikes but not extreme performance bikes," Lal said.

With the two new platforms the company is looking at churning out multiple models for at least next decade, he added.

The Chennai-based two-wheeler maker, which currently sells popular bikes like Bullet, Classic, Thunderbird and Continental GT, plans to invest Rs 500 crore this year on R&D, new product development, capacity expansion and setting up of two technology development centres in Chennai and UK.

Lal said the investment would also go into the phase two of its Oragadam plant in Chennai.

Commenting on the capacity expansion, Lal said that the number would go up from 30,000 units a month last year to 50,000 units a month by this year-end.

"We will continue to make higher investments into brand, distribution and globally relevant products that will be essential for us to achieve global leadership in the mid-size motorcycle category," he added.

Lal said the first quarter has been the best ever quarter for the Royal Enfield with record sales of 92,845 units, a growth of 44.5 per cent over first quarter of 2014. It exported 2,342 units in first quarter, a growth of 62 per cent, over the same period of previous year.