Royal Enfield has big plans to go on a product offensive once the current COVID-19 pandemic subsides. According to Simon Warburton, Royal Enfield's Head of Product Development, there have been many ideas about new products which could have been explored further for production. Speaking in a webinar, Warburton said that although the Royal Enfield Himalayan and the 650 Twins make up the bulk of sales across Europe, there are plenty of new bikes in the pipeline. In fact, Warburton revealed that Mike Wells, Head of Product Strategy and Industrial Design at Royal Enfield had presented around 14 new models to the team over the past year.
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The next new Royal Enfield will be the Meteor 350
With the ongoing lockdown to battle the coronavirus pandemic, Royal Enfield also has faced similar challenges as other auto manufacturers. In April 2020, Royal Enfield could manage to dispatch only 91 motorcycles. But even with revenue slowing down to a trickle, cash-rich Royal Enfield is not likely to be affected by the slowdown in sales, even if it's for a few months. Royal Enfield boss Siddhartha Lal remains unfazed and says the company doesn't need to react in a knee-jerk manner to the current challenges.
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"If we have a few months of zero revenue, which is possibly the case right now; it's okay, we will survive. We're not hand to mouth anymore, like we were a decade ago, so we can invest tremendously in the future," said Lal. "We want to focus, to do less. It's not that we will never look outside of our portfolio, but we believe our opportunity is to grow Royal Enfield right now."
The Royal Enfield Himalayan could see a new variant with a bigger, and more powerful engine
Also Read: Royal Enfield Trademarks Sherpa, Hunter Names
Royal Enfield's next new product will be the new Royal Enfield Meteor 350, a motorcycle which will replace the Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350X, but will double up as a global product, and not just targeted at the India market. Then, Royal Enfield is also looking to extend ownership of motorcycles to include new riders, as well as female riders. So, a new platform, which is lighter, and more accessible, is likely to be introduced as well.
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The Royal Enfield Himalayan is due for a complete revamp, so a souped-up version, possibly called the Sherpa, is also likely to debut sometime in the near future. There are other names from Royal Enfield's illustrious history which have been trademarked, like the Flying Flea, and Hunter. The future will be extremely exciting, and the next few years will see Royal Enfield go on an entirely new product offensive. If the 650 Twins are any yardstick for performance, and quality, the future will be focused on well-rounded products, which will be developed with the goal of establishing Royal Enfield as a global leader in the mid-size motorcycle segment.
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