Royal Enfield is the leading motorcycle brand in the 350-700 cc space in India and globally as well. The models that get RE the maximum volumes are the Hunter and the Classic, along with the Bullet 350 and then the others. The motorcycles above 350 cc while capable, are not models that can generate massive volumes and which is why the company has decided to go ahead with the plan of dipping their toes in the quarter-litre segment in India.
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Now the thought has been there for over five years but it is just now that the management has greenlit the 250 cc project. The idea is to get younger audiences to buy a Royal Enfield motorcycle that is light, easy to ride and most importantly, easy on the pocket as well. And that's because with the coming of BS6 emission norms, the prices of two-wheelers has seen significant increase in the last few years.
From what we understand, the architecture of the new 250 cc platform, internally code-named V platform is likely to be simple, with an air/oil-cooled engine. RE is also trying to figure out if the engine can be integrated with hybrid technology or not. The form of the motorcycle, is mostly likely to be a modern classic, at least to begin with.
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Currently, the Royal Enfield Hunter 350 is the most successful product for the company. Prices for Hunter start at Rs. 1.5 lakh (ex-showroom), the Hunter 350 caught the fancy of the people in tier-2 and tier-3 cities along with metro cities of course. Motorcycles from the 250 cc platform will be priced lower which means better accessibility.
Now the question is, whether the new 250 cc platform will dilute Royal Enfield's brand, which focusses on premium riding and ownership experiences or will it be successful in a segment which already has quite a few established models like the KTM 250 Duke, Suzuki Gixxer 250, TVS Ronin, Bajaj Pulsar N250, and the Dominar 250.
The next few years, in fact the next few months are going to be busy for the brand as it gears up to launch the Guerrilla 450 along with the Classic 650 and the updated Classic 350 this year itself. The company is also working on a 650 cc scrambler, which is likely to be revealed this year itself.
Source: Autocar India