Royal Enfield has decided to set up its own distribution network in the UK from May 1, 2023 and will handle sales and aftersales on its own. This will mark Royal Enfield’s independent sales and after-sales network in the UK, the brand’s spiritual home, where it launched its first bike in 1901, but is now owned by India’s Eicher Motors Ltd. Royal Enfield UK Ltd will now manage sales and dealer relationships, marking an end to a nine-year long partnership with MotoGB, a multi-brand sales and after sales establishment.
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The Royal Enfield Meteor 350 became the bestselling motorcycle above 125 cc in the UK, for the first seven months of 2022, overtaking the BMW R 1250 GS.
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The latest move comes after Royal Enfield’s continued success in the UK market, where in August 2022, the Meteor 350 became the bestselling motorcycle in the UK, above 125 cc in the first seven months of 2022, overtaking the BMW R 1250 GS. The Meteor 350 was launched in the UK in 2021 and has been a tremendous success story for the brand in the UK, after the Interceptor 650 and the Royal Enfield Himalayan, which has been one of the bestselling ADVs in the UK.
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The Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 is the brand's latest model, first unveiled at the EICMA 2022 show in Milan, and then earlier this month at the Royal Enfield Rider Mania in India.
Arun Gopal, Head of Royal Enfield’s European Business Markets, told MCN ahead of the official announcement, “We have a fantastic business model working with distributors. It’s done really well for us. But as we scale up operations – and in the UK this year we’ve been a clear number one in the mid-sized motorcycle segment for the first time outside of India – this is for us to really strengthen that position.
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“And number two, it’s for us to have a better idea of what’s really happening in the market. It’s very critical for Royal Enfield to be managing operations directly to one country in Europe. Customer motorcycle usages are quite common across this entire region, and I strongly believe there should be at least one market where we should be directly involved with dealers and customers. It helps us get feedback quicker, it helps us to respond to market requirements more quickly,” he said.
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Royal Enfield's upcoming models include the Shotgun 650, pictured above.
Royal Enfield UK will not just look at sales and after-sales, but also undertake marketing, warranty service and customer care responsibilities.
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“We’ve got products that are really delivering well for us and we’ve got so much more we can bring to the market, but I think it’s important Royal Enfield as an organisation understands this market first hand. There can’t be a better market than the UK to be doing this because this is where it all began,” Gopal added.
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The Royal Enfield Hunter 350 is the brand's most affordable model.
In October 2022, Royal Enfield recorded its best-ever monthly sales, of 82,235 units in the month, registering a growth of 86 per cent year-on-year. Overseas sales still constitute a small percentage of the brand's overall sales, but it's a number which has been steadily growing. In October 2022, Royal Enfield announced exports of 5,707 motorcycles, marking a growth of 62 per cent over October 2021, when the company had sold just 3,522 motorcycles in overseas markets.
