Head of APAC Region, Vimal Sumbly Quits Royal Enfield: Report

Vimal Sumbly, who previously headlined Triumph Motorcycles' India business, joined Royal Enfield in 2018 and was in charge of expanding the brand in the APAC region.

By Sameer Contractor

1 mins read

Published on February 3, 2022

Highlights

Vimal Sumbly joined Royal Enfield in 2018 from Triumph Motorcycles
RE expanded to newer markets in the APAC region over the last 4 years
RE is yet to announce its new APAC region head replacing Sumbly

Royal Enfield Head of Asia Pacific Region, Vimal Sumbly has resigned from his post, according to a recent report. Sumbly, who previously headlined Triumph Motorcycles' India business, joined Royal Enfield in 2018 and was in charge of expanding the brand in the APAC region. His resignation follows that of several high-profile exits in Royal Enfield including that of chief executive Vinod Dasari, head of commercial organisation Lalit Malik and global head of marketing Shubhranshu Singh. The other exits included Pankaj Sharma from the domestic sales team and Rodney Copes, who was in charge of the North American operations. carandbike has reached out to Royal Enfield for a statement and will update the piece when the company responds. Also Read: Royal Enfield Classic 350 Launched In The Philippines The report further states that the recent spate of exits follows a number of title upgrades at Royal Enfield with as many as 10 CXOs being created in design, brand project management and more, all of which report directly to the Managing Director Siddhartha Lal. The report further states that the chiefs of finance, information and HR report to executive director B Govindarajan. Vimal Sumbly was instrumental in expanding Royal Enfield to newer markets in the APAC region. RE also opened an assembly plant in Thailand recently The report comes just days after Royal Enfield reported its sales figures for January 2022, which were down by 15 per cent. The company says the volumes have been low due to the onset of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing shortage of semiconductor chips. The company sold a total of 68,887 motorcycles in January 2022. Domestic sales were down by 23 per cent, whereas exports were at an all-time high with a 102 per cent growth registered. Also Read: Two-Wheeler Sales January 2022: Royal Enfield Monthly Exports At All-Time High During his stint at Royal Enfield, Vimal Sumbly oversaw the brand's growth in the APAC region. This included expanding to newer markets like South Korea as well as expanding its sales network in the region. The company opened its first assembly plant in the region in Thailand last year, while the new-generation Classic 350 was recently launched in markets including the Philippines, New Zealand, and Australia.