Royal Enfield looking to roll out uniquely differentiated e-bikes: CEO

Royal Enfield is developing “uniquely distinctive electric motorcycles” and has already begun investing in product development and creating an ecosystem of suppliers around its Chennai plant, according to CEO B Govindarajan.

The company, which is part of Eicher Motors, has announced a capital expenditure of Rs. 1,000 crore for the current financial year focusing on various aspects, including electric vehicle manufacturing and product development.

A portion of the capital expenditure will also go towards new product launches from the company’s existing range of internal combustion engines.

“In EV Journey, we’re making steady progress. I can say Royal Enfield’s EV Journey is at its best right now. Our goal is to create unique, premium electric motorcycles with strong Royal Enfield DNA,” Govindarajan said on an analyst call with an analyst.

He added that the company has commissioned a very capable team and has begun to commit very deep investments in terms of product development, product strategy and in product testing and development.

“Right now, we have put in place a strong product and technology roadmap for the long term on the electric vehicle and towards developing the supplier ecosystem is what is being focused on so far,” noted Govindarajan.

He mentioned that there is a lot of prototyping and testing going on right now.

“We’re very committed. It’s a total blast now,” Govindarajan said.

Furthermore, he notes that the company has made a strategic investment in Stark Future and the two teams are now working well.

“They get along very well to learn from each other and look at what co-creation and development is, what we’re going to do and how we can build on each other’s strengths,” said Govindarajan.

In December last year, Eicher Motors announced the acquisition of 10.35 percent of the shares in the Spanish electric motorcycle maker Stark Future for 50 million euros.

On the capex plan, Siddhartha Lal, CEO of Eicher Motors, said the board has approved a cash outlay of Rs 1,000 crore towards capital expenditure for the Royal Enfield business in FY23-24.

He indicated that the company will make investments towards manufacturing electric vehicles, developing electric vehicle products, and of course developing products for our internal combustion engine range.

When asked about the expansion of the network in the domestic market, Govindarajan said that the company currently has around 2,100 retail outlets across India, a mix of studio stores and outlets.

“…the focus of the team is actually looking at how to multiply and then consolidate. That is how we should actually look at any of these strategies. We should not multiply blindly because we are very aware of the profitability of the trader and we place the utmost importance on the profitability of each outlet for merchants.