With its new plant at VallamVadagal in Tamil Nadu, Royal Enfield claims that its production capacity is expected to increase to 8,25,000 units per year by FY 2017-18.
Royal Enfield has started production at its third plant in VallamVadagal, Tamil Nadu, which is located around 50km from Chennai. This is the third manufacturing unit of the bikemaker in India after the two in Thiruvottiyur and Oragadam, both near Chennai. Spread over an area of 50 acres, this facility is expected to roll out 3,00,000 units per annum. The production at this plant isn’t limited to that of domestic motorcycles, it will be utilised for producing bikes for overseas markets as well. The combined production from all the three facilities is expected to touch 825,000 units in the FY 2017-18 – an increase of 20 per cent over the last fiscal.
Royal Enfield had aquired the land in 2014 and the new plant will play a vital role in its expansion as sales for its motorcycles is increasing with every passing month and with export markets also witnessing more demand. The new manufcaturing plant was built in a record time of 15 months. Over a period of 6 years, Royal Enfield’s sales have gone up by 55 per cent and the demand continues to remain strong. In FY 2017-18, RE plans to invest Rs 800 crores towards the Vallam plant’s capacity expansion, new products and platforms and technical centers in Leicester, UK, and Chennai, India.
Royal Enfield is known for its retro and touring motorcycles which include the RE Bullet, Thunderbird, Classic and Continental GT. The engine trims available are 350cc, 500cc, 535cc and 411cc. Last year, Royal Enfield launched the adventurer tourer bike, the Himalyan which will soon be relaunched with fuel injection to comply with BS-IV emission norms. They will soon be launching a higher capacity parallel-twin engine that is expected to take on the likes of Triumph and Harley-Davidson. Earlier this month, Royal Enfield also became India’s 4th most valuable automaker, making its parent company Eicher Motors the country’s most valuable 2-wheeler manufacturer.
Source: ZigWheels.com
