Royal Enfield plans to increase production by 2012, plans for a revamped Machismo too

Royal Enfield Bullet is the oldest surviving Motorcycle manufacturer in the world currently. The British legend has been manufacturing some of the best hand built motorcycles since a long time. Royal Enfield has turned into a big brand with large number of cult followers and fans alike.

Sources close from Royal Enfield tell us that the Chennai based company is soon going to Increase its production numbers to meet the sudden high demand for its UCE engined motorcycles that it launched some time back. The Classic 500, CLassic 350, Electra 305 and the Standard 350 along with the Thunderbird Twinspark 350 are the models available from the company. Royal Enfield is a part of the  Eicher Group of companies and also is one of the important constituent Business Units of Eicher Motors.

Dr Venki Padmanabhan, COO, Royal Enfield was quoted saying that they had thought that the new Enfield models would have a small demand, with the Classic UCE models the company expected to do 200 units a month, surprisingly the demand is close to a 1,000. He also said that the company is building on both capacity and R&D capability. In the next 2-3 years the company will be doubling capacity, added Padmanabhan.

Speaking to Bikedekho, Mr Shahji Koshy, Sales and Marketing head for Royal Enfield and the brains behind Enfields success story said that the company had big plans in store and this was just the beginning. He also added that with the introduction of the UCE engines on the Enfield motorcycles the demand for them has gone up drastically and the company is trying to meet this sudden demand by increasing the production and ramping up the activities at their Chennai factory at Chennai. Mr Koshy added that by organizing Rides Royal Enfield owner gets a chance to start exploring the abilities of the motorcycle and this is also a strong way in developing a bond with the Enfield owner.

Presently, Royal Enfield has 5 models in India. Out of these models, Thunderbird 350 has 3 months waiting period while the Classic 350 and 500 wait period goes upto 9 months. Indeed the great news is that the Machismo model of the much loved Royal Enfield motorcycle will also be mostly making a comeback due to demand from its fans.