Royal Enfield once again broke their previous sales records in the last financial year and they’re putting their profits to work by planning a massive investment in R&D.
Reports from India say Royal Enfield sold 508,099 motorcycles between April 2015 and March 2016. To put that in perspective, in January-December 2015, Harley-Davidson sold 264,627 motorcycles. Does this mean Royal Enfield is quickly becoming the world’s most common retro bike?
Royal Enfield’s numbers are even more impressive when you realize their sales numbers from the previous financial year (331,169 motorcycles) were themselves huge growth.
Royal Enfield parent company Eicher Motors saw a record profit in 2015, thanks to Royal Enfield, and they’re showing their appreciation by pouring money back into the company. They announced a $90 million US investment into Royal Enfield. The cash will be spent on their R&D centre in the UK and another one in India, as well as improving their production capacity. They need the investment — they hope to build 675,000 bikes in 2017. And with talk of updated cruisers (bearing twin-cylinder engines) en route, change could be coming quickly to a company that only recently was seen as an oddball retro offshoot of a long-extinct Brit bike marque.
I would buy the shit out of an enfield twin. That is a certainty.
And still 264,627 Harleys in sales *COSTS* way more than 508,099 RE….
FTFY
How about adding a few more ponies to the engine
Be careful remember Bletchly Hall did not fare well for Triumph.
Zac, you’re just on another planet with the the constant RE and HD comparisons.
The only story story is really about the rise of the middle class in third world countries who can now buy pricier (in that market anyways) motorcycles like the RE. That’s it.
I bet their “huge” r & d investment means they’re going out and picking up a nice, clean early seventies Triumph 500 or Honda CB450 twin to research their next step in product development.
-snort-
I hope it’s more than that. I wonder if the “R” in R&D will tend more towards market research than technical research, though? It certainly worked well for Harley-Davidson.
Impressive numbers and maybe that profit base will serve to develop bikes that would be interesting to the «first world» markets. Far from that still.
And still 264,627 Harleys in sales is worth WAY MORE than 508,099 RE….
I hope their tank pinstriper is getting a raise!
Personally, that sort of hand-finished detail is the coolest thing about these bikes, to me.