Royal Enfield to Expand its Manufacturing Capacity to Match Up with Increasing Demand

The legendary bike manufacturer, Royal Enfield has recently announced that they might need to expand their production facility to beyond its current capacity of 1.5 lakh unit annually. "The combined capacity with the Chennai new plant will be 1.5 lakh units and it might get exhausted in 2013 if our current growth rate continues," Venki Padmanabhan, CEO of Royal Enfield, which is a part of Eicher Motors, said at the last phase of the roadshow of Thunderbird 500 in Kolkata.

"The new plant is on 50 acres and so we can add capacity at ease with a new line beyond 1.5 lakh units as and when needed," Padmanabhan said. “ In the last three months the company was growing at 50 per cent and he expected it to maintain it in the months to come,” he added. "Till October the company sold 82,000 units. In the 2012 we expect to sell one lakh units against 75,000 units in 2011," he said. The new Chennai plant will be operation by first quarter of 2013 calendar year with total investment in manufacturing at Rs 150 crore. The company is pinning hope in the Thunderbird brand that accounts for just 10 per cent of sales in the years to come.