Royal Enfield is looking at setting a plant for assembling its motorcycles in Brazil, reports Auto Esporte. Also, the company plans to launch the 650 Twins in the country in early 2020.
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While Royal Enfield has delivered negative year-on-year sales performance for nine consecutive months, its exports have been gaining momentum since November last year. So no wonder why the company is giving more attention to international markets now. Currently, it has a local assembly plant in only one overseas market - Thailand.
"The Brazilian subsidiary has been one of the brand's biggest bets in recent years, so we are opening dealerships in new squares and looking into the possibility of starting a local CKD operation in the future," Claudio Giusti, Country Manager, Royal Enfield Brazil, said recently.
The launch timeline for the Interceptor INT 650 and the Continental GT 650 has been confirmed by Rod Copes, President, Royal Enfield Americas, the brand's new president in America confirmed the details. Copes said:
We are working very closely with our people in India to get everything ready. We plan for early next year.
The 650 Twins are designed as global products, and Royal Enfield has high hopes from the two models. The company hopes to sell 1 million of 650 Twins in the next 5 to 10 years.
The Interceptor INT 650 and the Continental GT 650 share the underpinnings and draw 47 bhp at 7,100 rpm and 52 Nm of torque at 5,250 rpm from a newly developed 648 cc parallel-twin cylinder, 8-valve motor with fuel injection. The bikes feature a six-speed gearbox with assist/slipper clutch – a first for Royal Enfield products.
The Royal Enfield 650 twins are priced affordably in the domestic market. The Interceptor INT 650's prices start at INR 2.50 lakh*, while the Continental GT 650 retails at INR 2.65 lakh* onwards. Next month, the prices will be hiked.
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Royal Enfield is testing the BS-VI compliant variants of the 650 Twins. A test mule of the Continental GT 650 was spotted somewhere near Tamil Nadu recently. However, the BS-VI range may get delayed due to a patent infringement lawsuit. New Delhi-based Flash Electronics has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the Chennai based brand in a court of Wisconsin, USA.
[Source: g1.globo.com]
