Royal Enfield to Invest Rs. 600 Crore On 2 New R&D Centres in FY2017

Having experienced exponential growth in recent years, Royal Enfield has been aggressive with its expansion plans and is eyeing to dominate the middleweight motorcycle segment globally. Adding further, Lal said that the UK technology centre will be operational by the second half of the 2016-17 fiscal, whereas the Chennai centre will be operational by 2017-18. The company aims to build 6,75,000 motorcycles during the current fiscal, as opposed to its outgoing production capacity of 4,50,000 units annually.

Royal Enfield's immediate plan for the future is relatively simple. Grow with more products and into newer markets. 2016 has been an extremely important year for the bike maker as it launched the Himalayan adventure tourer. A first-of-its-kind bike not only for the company, but also at the respective price point. Talking about future launches, the RE management had confirmed to carandbike earlier this year that a twin-cylinder motorcycle is definitely in the works and opens the bike maker to a completely new segment. Expected to be a 650cc unit, the new motorcycle is believed to make it to American and European markets first before heading to the Indian shores.

Royal Enfield's future launches also include updated versions of the Thunderbird and Classic cruisers that will get significant changes, while a completely new engine is also said to be in the works. In the meantime, the oldest bike maker has been working to expand its base across the globe opening dealerships in South East Asia, Middle-East, US and more recently even opened shop in Ireland. In its home market, the 2015-16 fiscal saw the bike maker expand its dealerships to over 500.