Royal Enfield sales boom - NGC

[Mark West]

http://canadamotoguide.com/2015/02/03/battle-of-the-brands-royal-enfield-passes-harley-davidsons-global-sales/

Is this right? I can't believe it. Where are they selling all these bikes?

[oldbike54]

Uh , there are 1.2 billion people in India .

  Dusty

[Triple Jim]

That might explain a little of the reasoning behind the new Harley "Street" bikes.

[Arizona Wayne]

Uh , there are 1.2 billion people in India .

  Dusty

Exactly.  RE is selling smaller bikes that not many US riders are  interested in because these RE bikes(by our opinion) are not worthy of our interest.  Smaller countries with not so many roads and disposable income to spend are where RE is selling their bikes.  Good for RE.  :BEER:

[leafman60]

Wow, do you think Royal Enfield may eventually buy out Harley Davidson?

That would put Pierre Terblanche in Willie G's Head Designer chair!

[Frulk]

Cue the comments about the 29.1 HP at the wheel in 3...2...1... :beat_horse

[Triple Jim]

Cue the comments about the 29.1 HP at the wheel in 3...2...1... :beat_horse

Plenty for a motorcycle that's used for daily transportation by an owner who doesn't have much money for gasoline and isn't trying to impress anyone.

[LowRyter]

I think if I wanted reliable wheels....it would be a modern Japanese bike.

[Yukonica]

Plenty for a motorcycle that's used for daily transportation by an owner who doesn't have much money for gasoline and isn't trying to impress anyone.

It seems Piaggio is missing a niche. There sounds to be a subcontinent of Guzzi aficionado.

[Triple Jim]

I think if I wanted reliable wheels....it would be a modern Japanese bike.

True enough, but in the huge Indian market, it's probable that an Indian would buy a Royal Enfield that was made in India and readily available, with huge dealer support.  Maybe more so than a foreign (Japanese) motorcycle that costs more and isn't so supported locally.

[JeffOlson]

The RE Continental GT is a fine looking bike. I think it looks better than my Triumph Thruxton (at least when my Thruxton was stock).

[Arizona Wayne]

True enough, but in the huge Indian market, it's probable that an Indian would buy a Royal Enfield that was made in India and readily available, with huge dealer support.  Maybe more so than a foreign (Japanese) motorcycle that costs more and isn't so supported locally.

Have no idea how many MC Co.s there are in India but Hero is another 1 that has 1/2 interest in EricBuelRacing here in the USA.  :)


MC sales world wide are broken down by cc size, starting with 50cc.  So true volume has to be looked at from that perspective.   ;)

[huub]

I think if I wanted reliable wheels....it would be a modern Japanese bike.

actually, a indian who wants a cheap means of transportation buys a locally made hero honda at half the price of a enfield.
Enfield is a luxury brand over there , until recently you had to get on a waiting list to buy one.

[Doppelgaenger]

RE are cute bikes, but in the end they're ancient technology that is a dead-on throwback in the bad old days of british motorcycles. I put them on par with Ural for fun, finesse, distint style and reliability. You can love them dearly and appreciate them, but they're still slow and prone to breaking down at any point.

Cheap always comes at a price.

[huub]

 

RE are cute bikes, but in the end they're ancient technology that is a dead-on throwback in the bad old days of british motorcycles. I put them on par with Ural for fun, finesse, distint style and reliability. You can love them dearly and appreciate them, but they're still slow and prone to breaking down at any point.

in 2008 RE introduced a new engine.
it might look like something built in the fities, but is a modern engine
the old iron cylinder british bullet is out of production.
you just missed nearly a decade of enfield development.

[Doppelgaenger]

in 2008 RE introduced a new engine.
it might look like something built in the fities, but is a modern engine
the old iron cylinder british bullet is out of production.
you just missed nearly a decade of enfield development.

It may be a new engine, but everyone that reviews that motor finds it to be sloppy. For the price of an Enfiled here in the US you can buy any number of better bikes brand new. Unless you MUST have the retro look, in which case the only thing that competes with it is either a bonneville or a V7, and I'd rather pay the extra money for a refined engine. Or buy an old POS for cheap and spend the difference on making it truly special.

If they were priced cheaper they'd sell the shit out of them over here too. In India the sell for just over $3k, I'd actually consider buying one if they were that cheap here, but as it is, the bikes just aren't worth the money they want for them in north america.

[huub]

Cheap always comes at a price

For the price of an Enfiled here in the US you can buy any number of better bikes brand new.

If they were priced cheaper they'd sell the shit out of them over here too.

ow well , never mind.  ???

[nick949]

In India, people aspire to a Royal Enfield in much the way that people aspire to an HD in the US.  Both completely irrational aspirations, but part of the culture.  It has nothing to do with rational decisions in either case.

Of course, so much in motorcycling is determined by rational choice............. ......NOT!

Nick

[dilligaf]

The folks who sell them where I live do not have a department store that sell motorcycles.  Just motorcycles. Nothing fancy. I enjoy doing business with them and I wish them well.  :BEER:
Matt

[drlapo]

one of the guys in our group has  the Continental GT in red, he really likes it and it goes good; keeps up with my V7 on our rides

[Kev m]

According to multiple news sources from India, Royal Enfield sold 302,591 motorcycles globally last year. That’s up from 178,121 in 2013 and 113,432 in 2012 – impressive growth for sure (around 70 per cent), and certainly not seen by any other large-scale manufacturer on today’s market.

 :o :o :o

That is IMPRESSIVE growth. Hope they improve quality too.

We've got a used car dealer here that is ALSO an RE dealer.

About 50% of their used car inventory are Jeep Wranglers/Wrangler Unlimiteds.

The showroom has 2 Jeeps in it, and the whole line of REs.

They are VERY good looking bikes, small, simple, with EFI and a kickstart, what's not to like?

I would honestly consider one if (when) we have the extra room in the garage for toys like that.

[jetmechmarty]

I read somewhere that Harley was going to build motorcycles in India or is doing it.  It was in order to sell bikes there without the huge import tax.  In exchange, we get mangos.  I love mangos!

[Kev m]

I read somewhere that Harley was going to build motorcycles in India or is doing it.  It was in order to sell bikes there without the huge import tax.  In exchange, we get mangos.  I love mangos!

They've been "assembling" Sportsters and Big Twins in India and in Brazil to avoid import taxes for some years now.

And the plant in India is now assembling the world market Street 500 & 750 (and I believe producing some of the parts shipped back here to assemble the North American 500 & 750 models that are assembled in Kansas City). Not sure where the motor is being built, I would have thought it was being built at the Menomonee Falls powertrain plant, but the website seems to say they only build the air-cooled motors there.

There's no mention of the Street motors OR the V-Rod motors...

http://www.harley-davidson.com/content/h-d/en_US/home/events/factory-tours/menomoneefallswi.html

EDIT - AHHH, I see.

The Street and V-Rod motors are built in Kansas City at the same place those bikes are assembled. Still can't say if they export finished motors to the India assembly plant. I would think that's a possibility.

http://www.harley-davidson.com/content/h-d/en_US/home/events/factory-tours/kanascitymo.html

Kansas City employees produce the Sportster®, Dyna®, StreetTM and V-Rod® families of motorcycles, along with select Softail® models, from fabrication and finishing through final assembly to include the liquid-cooled Revolution® and Revolution XTM powertrains for the V-Rod and Street families.

[segesta]

Kev M beat me to it. Remember that the motorcycle market isn't portly old American baby boomer guys with spending money--ie, many of us here. It's young guys from Bangkok and Bangalore that have to battle insane traffic, but still look kind of cool. Harley is just doing what it has to do.

[freedom]

I was in India in December and there seems to be a resurgence in RE in India. You see a lot more RE's in India now than just 3 years ago (the last time I was there). And like Nick949 said RE in India has a similar place in peoples hears to HD in the US.

[LowRyter]

True enough, but in the huge Indian market, it's probable that an Indian would buy a Royal Enfield that was made in India and readily available, with huge dealer support.  Maybe more so than a foreign (Japanese) motorcycle that costs more and isn't so supported locally.

Japanese build bikes in India just like Harley does.  And they export them all over the world just like Enfield does.

[Lannis]

I was in India in December and there seems to be a resurgence in RE in India. You see a lot more RE's in India now than just 3 years ago (the last time I was there). And like Nick949 said RE in India has a similar place in peoples hears to HD in the US.

I have several Indian motorcycle-riding friends in the BritBike world.   I wish we had a few here, but Moto Guzzis are beyond the reach of the average Indian guy.

IF you are a 4-year-degreed Indian professional -

1) You do NOT own a car.  Cars are still beyond the ability of most people to buy, maintain, and ESPECIALLY garage and park.   There's no infrastructure for it.

2) For daily transport, you have an Indian-built scooter, usually 1 between you and your wife, sometimes two.

3) In the same way we might aspire to a $30,000 full-boat BMW or Road King, you MIGHT aspire to an Indian-built Enfield.

4) Harley-Davidsons and the like are strictly for rajahs and Bollywood stars, the same way a LearJet or Bugatti might be viewed by us.  .0001% 'ers.

5) A normal person cannot buy an imported motor vehicle.   India will not allow the import of ANYTHING that might jeopardize one single $.10/hour Indian job.   If you send a package to India (say old Brit bike parts to help restore someone's BSA M20), the 30 clerks whose hands it goes through will rip it to pieces looking for jewelry (never importable), new bike parts, etc.

Just a different world than here, and a LOT more of it ....

Lannis

[leafman60]

In India, people aspire to a Royal Enfield in much the way that people aspire to an HD in the US.  Both completely irrational aspirations, but part of the culture.  It has nothing to do with rational decisions in either case.

Of course, so much in motorcycling is determined by rational choice............. ......NOT!

Nick

Bid DITTO to support my fellow Falconer!

[Perazzimx14]

4) Harley-Davidsons and the like are strictly for rajahs and Bollywood stars, the same way a LearJet or Bugatti might be viewed by us.  .0001% 'ers.

Wouldn't that be a 0.000,000,001.500%er?

[Lannis]

Wouldn't that be a 0.000,000,001.500%er?

Could be.   It's a big-arsed country.   I'd love to visit, but even my Indian friends inviting me over tell me that once we get on the bikes, and start buying food at roadside stalls, I'd be sick as 3 dogs for a week before my intestinal flora adjusted ...

Lannis