Royal Enfield year-on-year domestic sales tumble for nine consecutive months

02/08/2019 - 12:30 Royal Enfield Classic, Royal Enfield Bullet, Royal Enfield Suvil Susvirkar

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.

Royal Enfield Classic 350 Rear Disc Brake Black Si — July 2019 was also the sixth month with double-digit fall in year-on-year numbers.

Also Read: Next-Generation Royal Enfield Thunderbird spied during the test run

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.

Royal Enfield Bullet 500 rear left quarter at 2017 Thai Motor Expo — The new entry-level Royal Enfield motorcycle will be reportedly based on the Bullet 350.

Also Read: Spy video of 2020 Royal Enfield Thunderbird reveals revised ergonomics

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