Enfield to double capacity to 1 lakh by 2012

The Chennai-based Royal Enfield, the makers of the iconic Bullet, today announced that it will double its capacity to 1 lakh units per annum by the turn of 2012 to meet its rapidly growing demand.

The company will be investing nearly Rs 80 crore to ramp up its capacity at its Chennai plant in a phased manner, Royal Enfield Marketing and Sales Head Shaji Koshy said, adding the company has already almost doubled its capacity from 28,000 units in 2007-08 to 52,000 units in 2009.

The Siddharth Lal-promoted company will be jacking up its capacity to over 60,000 units this calendar year, while by 2012, the installed capacity will be 1 lakh units, Koshy said, while opening its 11th Brand Store in the country at Nerul in New Mumbai.

Koshy further said since the introduction of the Classic models across the company's brand portfolio early this year, there has been a massive jump in demand, which the company is unable to meet despite operating at above the installed capacity.

"There is a long waiting period of six to eight months now for all the models," Koshy said, adding the waiting period is so long that we are forced to return the booking amount.

"The Brand Stores are our way acknowledging the importance of consumers of this city, as well as our way to let our customers experience the unique brand. The basic purpose of the Brand Store is to help our customers build a community around the brand and also make our stores a one-stop motorcycling destination," said Koshy.

He further informed that all the brand stores are owned and operated by the company.

The first Brand Store was opened in Hyderabad way back in 2004 and since then the company has opened 10 more in cities like Chennai, Jaipur, Bangalore, Mumbai (Bandra and New Mumbai), Coimbatore, Kochi, and Lucknow among others.

On the success of the Brand Stores, Koshy said 10 per cent of the overall sales come from these stores now. The New Delhi-based Eicher Motors-owned Royal Enfield has 176 dealers across the country now.

Significantly, the demand is growing not in the traditional markets of Punjab and Kerala but in the Metros like Chennai and Bangalore, the marketing head said.

Enfield currently exports to 30 countries, including to Britain, where the company was originated in 1906, and the US and the EU, among others. Soon they will be entering the land of Hardly Davidson, California in the US, too, Koshy said.

On the entry of the world famous luxury bike maker Harly Davidson in the domestic market, Koshy quipped: "We are a loner; we want somebody to give us company. The entry of premium bikes will only widen the market."

The company also flagged of the Tour NH 17 Ride, under which 23 Enfield riders will traverse the 1,400-km way from Mumbai to Goa in six days. The flag-off ceremony was graced by the New Mumbai mayor Sagar Naik and city police commissioner Ahmed Javed