Royal Enfield reported negative year-on-year sales performance for the ninth consecutive month in July, of 22%. It is also the sixth consecutive time that the Chennai-based brand has reported a double-digit decline in the year-on-year sales numbers.
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The domestic sales crashed by 27%, and Royal Enfield sold 49,182 units in July 2019 as against 67,001 units in the corresponding month last year. Exports continued to provide solace. The Chennai-based brand sold 5,003 motorcycles in the international markets in July this year, against 2,062 units in the same period last year. The company has been reporting negative sales performance since November last year. Incidentally, that happens to be the same month when Classic Legends re-introduced Jawa Motorcycles in our market.
| Month | Latest Sales | Last Year’s Sales | Percentage Difference |
| July 2019 | 69,063 | 54,185 | -22 |
| June 2019 | 58,339 | 74,477 | -22 |
| May 2019 | 62,371 | 74,697 | -17 |
| April 2019 | 62,879 | 76,187 | -17 |
| March 2019 | 58,434 | 74,209 | -21.3 |
| February 2019 | 60,066 | 71,354 | -15.8 |
| January 2019 | 70,872 | 76,205 | -7.0 |
| December 2018 | 56,026 | 65,367 | -14.3 |
| November 2018 | 65,026 | 67,776 | -4.1 |
The exports have been positive since December last year, which incidentally is the same time when Royal Enfield introduced the 650 Twins in various international markets. Exports witnessed a sharp spike, registering a 143% year-on-year growth. Check out the export performance below:
| Month | Latest Sales | Last Year’s Sales | Percentage Difference |
| July 2019 | 5,003 | 2,062 | 143 |
| June 2019 | 3,257 | 1,889 | 72 |
| May 2019 | 2,160 | 2,187 | -1 |
| April 2019 | 3,742 | 1,560 | 139.87 |
| March 2019 | 2,397 | 1,878 | 27.63 |
| February 2019 | 2,564 | 1,723 | 48.81 |
| January 2019 | 1,829 | 1,673 | 9.32 |
| December 2018 | 2,252 | 1,601 | 40.66 |
| November 2018 | 718 | 2,350 | -69.44 |
To address the lacklustre sales performance, Royal Enfield is working on a budget model that will be placed below the company’s current entry-level motorcycle, the Bullet 350, which retails at INR 1.21 lakh*. Royal Enfield’s newly appointed CEO, Vinod Dasari, confirmed in a recent interview that the new variants will be introduced in the coming months. Dasari said:
We will also be introducing new motorcycle variants in the coming months to widen our offering and provide greater accessibility to our discerning customers.
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The new Royal Enfield variant may be priced close to INR 1.10 lakh*, which will put it against the 200 cc motorcycles in the Indian market such as the Bajaj Pulsar NS200, TVS Apache RTR 200 4V and the newly launched Hero XPulse 200 (Fi). The budget-conscious package will most likely include a single-channel ABS and a rear drum brake setup.
*Ex-showroom Delhi
Note: Images used for representation only
