Royal Enfield’s growth has been hit badly in this economic downturn but the company’s CEO is hopeful of a thumping return to the green…
Royal Enfield is one manufacturer which was the least affected even during the infamous demonetisation days. It has a cult following and it would probably be the only brand with such a massive fanbase in India. Almost all the other manufacturers envy the brand for being such an enormous seller in the Rs 1-2 Lakh price bracket.
Many makers have tried to snatch a pie of this segment but none of them have been consistently successful at it yet! But the biggest setback for the oldest surviving manufacturer has come in during this economic slowdown. For the last many months, it has been losing sales significantly. Its bread and butter Classic 350 is down by big numbers and with the exception of the 650s nothing seems to be in the green.
In order to arrest the fall, Royal Enfield roped in the industry veteran Vinod Dasari, who is the CEO of the brand now. He devised the Royal Enfield 2.0 strategy which focuses on four pointers – enhancing product range, increasing reach, leveraging digital platforms and solution selling. In a word to Economic Times, Mr Dasari said that the brand has hit the rock bottom and it will return to its double digit growth in the months to come.
I think we have hit the bottom. Given the range of products that will come, it (a double-digit growth rate) is possible. The general economic sentiment has also got to improve…
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He also said that the company will not make any large facility and most of its investments for the year will be utilised in building new products, capability enhancement etc. He has already launched new variants of existing products and introduced a new concept of small Studio stores. The brand is already 500 Studio stores strong and they account for almost 10 percent of total sales for RE.
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With the oncoming of direct rivals like Jawa, Benelli Imperiale 400 (read review) etc, going will not be as seamless for the brand as it was but it will be interesting to see how the brand fights out all the odds…