One of the world’s oldest motorcycle manufacturer, still redeems its cult status and has a tremendous fan following. It has a age old history in India too, when it used to sell its bikes to the Army (for obvious reasons the forces believed that the Bullet looked suitable for patrolling the country’s border). The bikes were made in England and were imported to Indian soil. The show is now managed and owned by Eicher Motors in India and have a production unit in Chennai.
Recently the Chennai-based manufacturer has prompted to accelerate the production of its hugely-in-demand products such as the Classic 350 and Classic 500. The production is planned to double from 50,000 units to 1,00,000 units in lieu of the demand. Currently the demand easily outnumbers the production, and also claim a waiting period of even 12 months for some of its top running models. This has spurted Eicher to dynamically invest almost 300 crores in a greenfield project to expand exponentially.
The company had grew 8.74% during the last financial year and had sold 54,475 units (which includes its 5 models which are sold in Indian market). The brand in a way has grown as a cult over the times and I wouldn’t be wrong if I describe it as an “Indian Harley”. They both share a common DNA – “Biking is a Religion”. Both the bike manufacturers have binded their customers with the sense of brotherhood, community and of all the sheer pleasure of driving these machines.The message is clearly stated in its advertisements/galleries. One such example is –
It can be clearly seen in the photograph how a bunch of bikers gather together in the himalayan odyssey with one intention – what they call it as the ‘Nirvana’. This is the kind of engagement the brand has with its customers. Royal Enfield organizes an adventure gathering of its customers called as “THE TRIP”. This is one of the most sought after biking extravaganza on Indian terrain. A similar stuff is done by Harley for its HOGs (Harley Owners Groups) where it organizes events where its customers are invited to participate in anything from local chapter rides to pin stops, to state and national rallies.
Royal Enfield has developed itself as a brand which is different in character and unique. Its products have grown to be known for its encompassing rugged styling, robust and durable engines. And I must commend the company’s effort in keeping the brand alive true to its tradition and also re-juvenate the sense of ‘BIKING’ among its owners. Kudos to the RE team and hope that its expansion plans go well (so that its fans need to wait less for their rides).
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