From rural areas to fancy urban showrooms: Royal Enfield now appeals to a younger generation

If you don’t know it already, there is a Royal Enfield Bullet shrine in Rajasthan. Locals of Chotila actually worship a Bullet out there in memory of a lost rider Om Singh Rathore also called as ‘Bullet Baba’. But these are just the last remnants of a bygone era where Enfield motorcycles were more common in rural areas compared to urban spaces. [caption id=“attachment_329246” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Bullet Shrine in Chotila, Rajasthan. Image: unseenrajasthan.blogspot.in[/caption] They were sturdy, carried plenty of load (including some livestock) and were more reliable than the local ponies over longer distances. Almost a decade ago, Royal Enfield’s sales were down in the dumps. City slickers barely knew about the Enfield, and those who did know about it found it a bit too pricey to invest in. India’s market had yet to mature compared to what we have today; and without a proper brand image, the company had a hard time selling these bulky machines to the wealthier consumer who resides in the A towns. [caption id=“attachment_329243” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Gujarati farmer using Royal Enfield Bullet for ploughing a field. Image: RushLane.com[/caption] Out here in India, Royal Enfield (RE) as a brand has come a long way indeed. From being branded as something like a tractor, to a slick looking machine that packs in all the cool retro-vintage looks. And while not many may be fans of the vintage-looking bikes, RE also came up with a few cooler-looking bikes that would appeal to younger audiences. After the cafe racer-styled Continental GT, and we now also have the adventure-tourer called the Himalayan. [caption id=“attachment_329251” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  The Royal Enfield Continental GT[/caption] But sales just don’t happen, and it was Siddhartha Lal, Managing Director & CEO, Eicher Motor’s efforts that have helped churn out those sales. The company today portrays itself to an audience who is a lot younger, consisting of techies and millenials. In short, Enfield is now building poster bikes thanks to its acquisitions and sales certainly don’t seem to be losing their momentum anytime soon. [caption id=“attachment_327997” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  The Royal Enfield Himalayan[/caption] Where did the Himalayan get its cooler-looking ’not-so-Enfield’ design from? Well, you have to thanks UK’s Harris Performance for that. RE acquired the motorcycle design firm last year that played a crucial role in the design and development of the adventure tourer. And these are all thanks to Eicher Motor’s R&D investments (Rs 600 crore in all), which will be used to set up two technical centres in Leicestershire (UK) and Chennai. And that momentum continues with the UK team working on a bigger mi-size super bike project that is expected to come out next year. “While we continue to work relentlessly on demand generation, we have also taken significant steps to reinforce our product development capabilities at Royal Enfield. In UK, we already have a team of more than 50 engineers with deep experience in design and development of motorcycles,” Siddhartha Lal, managing director & CEO, Eicher Motors, said in company’s latest annual report. The company is now targeting techies in Bangalore as well. Enfield claims that one in every four Himalayan motorcycles gets sold in the IT capital of the country, Bangalore. [caption id=“attachment_329261” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Royal Enfield Gear Store at Khan Market, Delhi.[/caption] Adding to this refreshed brand image is the company’s global expansion plans. With exclusive stores already opened up in malls and high streets in India, the Hindu Business Line also reports the company’s plans to go global. The motorcycle costs little over 1.5 lakh and is seeing great success in the state of Karnataka with 4000 units sold. “Karnataka is our most important market for the Himalayan. Basically, there are adventure seeking guys here (Bengaluru), who want to get out on the weekend, leaving behind all this stress,” said Shaji Koshy, senior vice-president of sales and marketing at Enfield, as reported by the Business Standard. Exclusive stores in cities such as London, Paris, Madrid, Bogota, Medellin and Dubai now tell about the brand’s image that not just displays motorcycles but the branded merchandise as well. This is the new Royal Enfield and things are looking better than ever!