Suzuki’s Royal Enfield rival may or may not go to production but the Jap is keeping a close eye on the market’s response to this segment…
Almost all major manufacturers envied Royal Enfield’s unprecedented success and have wanted to, at some point or the other, replicate it with retro classic products. Some are still trying! With the exception of Jawa, none of them have been able to come close to its massive popularity.
In this list we have Honda, Bajaj, Suzuki and others who have announced their intents of watching this retro-classic motorcycle segment. However, another facet of this is the continuous decline in sales of Royal Enfield since the last many months. Harley Davidson, another niche motorcycle manufacturer, is also losing market share consistently.
This has made rivals wary of this segment. Satoshi Uchida, who is the Managing Officer at Suzuki Motor Corporation said that the company is studying the segment and watching Royal Enfield’s decline in sales. He added that…
Many customers in India are a bit tired of the design and styling now, earlier they (models) were very popular. Since the start of last year, their (Royal Enfield) sales have been declining. A similar problem exists with Harley-Davidson…
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Against a 14 percent fall of the two-wheeler industry, Royal Enfield reported a 20 percent decline in sales in this period between April to October 2019. Royal Enfield is also now trying to shed its hefty dependence on the sole model – Classic 350 – and is trying to venture in other niches.
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Uchida advised the Indian mid-size behemoth to become ‘sportier’ to appeal to the youth. He also added that Suzuki will definitely make products on cruiser, classic, adventure or cafe racer platforms. Earlier he had confirmed a 250cc motorcycle as well as the 150cc Burgman Street for our market.
Source – Money Control
