Royal Enfield registered 14% drop in monthly sales in December 2018. The brand faced issues like workers strike that resulted in a loss of production and sales number in the last two months of 2018. The 56,026 units sold in December 2018 were much lower in comparison to 65,367 units sold in the same month in 2017. On the other hand, Royal Enfield registered 41% hike in exports from 1601 units to 2252 units. The workers were on a strike from Sept 24 to Nov 12, resulting in a production loss of 28,000 motorcycles during the period. The reason for the strike was a lower increment in wages.
Royal Enfield is planning to launch the scrambler-inspired Bullet Trials in India to offer further convenience to the buyers. Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 won the IMOTY 2019 award while Continental GT is gaining popularity for the sporty riding position and class-leading power output. The most powerful motorcycle from RE, GT 650 comes with standard dual seat and clip-on handlebar in the stock form while the single seat and rear cowl can be bought as an accessory later. The brand is also working hard through the online store to bring as much merchandise as possible for the buyers.
Royal Enfield was earlier the fifth largest selling brand in India while a few months later, the position was lost to Yamaha India. Royal Enfield was moving closer to the one million yearly sales target but circumstances made them fall back to half the number. The addition of ABS resulted in a price hike for almost every model in their lineup, pushing the budget of customer up by INR 15,000 on the majority of bikes. The Bullet series is yet to offer ABS in India while all other models have at least one product with the safety feature. The range of RE bikes starts from INR 1.28 lakh (ex-showroom).
