Previously, Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Auto, had confirmed that the new BS-VI emission norms would serve as an excellent opportunity to introduce the company’s model range in a new avatar. Now, it’s Eicher Motors’ CEO, Siddhartha Lal who has dropped hints of a new product line up that would arrive with the enforcement of the emission norms.
Also read: Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 wins the IMOTY 2019 award
Lal told Economic Times:
Our new product introduction takes three-and-a-half to four years. We have been working on all our BS-VI products. And we think we have an amazing generation of new products that’s going to come out for BS-VI. In all of our testing, we’re already way below the BS-VI emission requirements. So, from a pure technical perspective, we are meeting all the emission requirements.
So, what should you expect from Royal Enfield? A report this year said RE plans to introduce motorcycles based on four new platforms – P, J, Q and K. The J architecture will underpin the BS-VI versions of Royal Enfield’s existing products Classic, Thunderbird, Bullet, and Himalayan.
The P architecture, on the other hand, will be reserved for the Interceptor INT 650, the Continental GT 650 and similar products. Lal had stated at the Indian launch of the Interceptor INT 650 and Continental GT 650 that the company would not introduce more products on the 650 platform for two years. The keyword here is ‘two years’. Thus, the next product to arrive under the 650 platform (or the P architecture) would have a BS-VI compliant motor. Lal said in a May 2017 interview that a 650cc Himalayan was in the pipeline, though more recently the company's president Rudratej Singh ruled out its introduction in the short term.
The Q and K architecture would underpin higher displacement motorcycles and put Royal Enfield against brands like Harley-Davidson and Triumph Motorcycles. Royal Enfield has already revealed the Concept KX that, as the name suggests, uses the K platform. The bobber concept was showcased with an 838 cc V-twin motor. Lal told the Economic Times that the production-spec KX will be bigger than the motorcycle displayed at the EICMA show.
Also read: Royal Enfield Classic filled a gap that no one knew existed - Siddhartha Lal
Get ready to witness an armada of new Royal Enfield products perhaps at the 2020 Auto Expo.
[Source: EconomicTimes.com]
