Royal Enfield domestic sales go up, exports drop by 8 pc

Royal Enfield’s domestic motorcycle sales is back in the positive for the first time this financial year. In February 2020, the company sold 61,188 motorcycles, which is two percent more than the 60,066 units sold in February 2019. However, exports in the same period dropped by 8 percent to 2,348 units from 2,564 units.

This news brings much hope for the Siddhartha Lal-led company, which has seen its volumes falling for over a year. In fact, its sales fell below the 50,000 mark (in a month) in July 2019. The last time Royal Enfield volumes were below the 50,000 mark in a month was in May 2016.

ALSO READ

Royal Enfield becomes official OEM partner of American Flat Track racing

The company has expanded its dealer network in the country, as well as international markets. In the case of the latter, it opened new stores across Thailand, Brazil, Argentina, France, and the UK, increasing its overall international touchpoints to about 675 stores, including 67 exclusive stores.

The company claims that along with the new stores, focussed marketing initiatives have “more than tripled its sales outside India”.

Royal Enfield has also commissioned a ‘make your own’ motorcycle initiative, which allows customers to custom-build the motorcycle with a select array of accessories.

Speaking on this, Vinod Dasari, CEO of Royal Enfield, said, “Customisation and personalisation are a huge form of self-expression for our discerning riding enthusiasts. This initiative has seen a very encouraging response from across the cities where it has been launched.”

In India, Royal Enfield is focussing on smaller towns and cities and is opening up new, smaller, studio format stores. Over the last quarter (quarter ending December 2019), it opened 250 new studio outlets. Along with seven new large-format stores, this takes Royal Enfield’s total retail touchpoints in India to 1,400.

The company has consistently outperformed the overall industry. This fiscal, motorcycle sales (125cc and higher) were down by 23 percent. However, Royal Enfield’s sales fell by only 5 percent. This has allowed the company to increase its market share from 26 percent to 32 percent.

It has also focussed on reducing its dealer-level inventory for BS-IV models, and at present, it stands at less than 10 days. The company has also increased the production of its BS-VI models, and currently, one-third of the dispatches comply with the newer emission standards.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)