Royal Enfield Himalayan is going through a bad phase as recent automotive reports claim its temporary suspension for the Indian market. The brand has officially replaced the carburetor fed Himalayan with European spec model on the website but not even a single unit of this version was delivered in India. Sales were falling continuously in 2016 and pricing was not a reason behind this situation. Royal Enfield even announced the Fi model for India but according the Royal Enfield dealers, the fuel-injected model never reached the dealerships.
The official reason for the same was BS3 to BS4 conversion, and the present owners are facing a lot reliability and quality issues with their Himalayan. Royal Enfield has not issued a recall and are serving only those customers that came in for service or complaint. Royal Enfield needs to reconsider its strategy on selling the Himalayan in India in the second phase.
Recent reports suggest that RE will soon be launching the BS4 Fi model and it won't be prone to the issues raised by the owners. For now, the production of Himalayan has been suspended. The 2017 updated BS4 fuel-injected model is expected to be launched in India in August this year and it is expected to be priced around INR 6000-7000 more than the carburetted version.
Himalayan uses an all new 411cc, single cylinder oil cooled engine producing 24.5 BHP and 32 Nm of torque. The only one of it's kind in India, Himalayan was seen as a hope by millions of off-road lovers.
None of the other brand offers such strict features under this price tag. If tested thoroughly and launched with an even better spec sheet, Himalayan could prove as a game changer for Royal Enfield. All they need is humble words regarding the problems and a fresh marketing campaign that clearly shows improvements.
Source: NDTV
