ROYAL ENFIELD has just been given a sizable cash injection after its parent company Eicher Motors is reported to have pumped $121 million into the Indian company.
An injection of cash to any company is always welcome, although as is the way with the world, Eicher will want to see the investment come back with interest. Royal Enfield has gone from strength to strength in the last few years, with models like the Continental GT, Himalayan, and Hunter 350 adding some depth and quality to the range of bikes.
This transformation has meant sales for the historic brand are at an all-time high, both in its homeland of India and around the world. Enfield posted sales figures of more than 800,000 units globally in 2022, up from 600,000 in the previous year. That may have you wondering what the extra cash is going to be used for, and the answer is partly predictable. Yep, you guessed it, some electric motorcycle development is on the agenda, although that’s not the be-all and end-all of it.
Royal Enfield will also be using some of the money to develop new models, likely to be built around the same J-Series platform as the Hunter 350. This is a very sensible step, as having multiple variants of the easy-to-ride, cost-effective and rugged Hunter would open the door to even more sales around the world. I spoke about this at the launch of the Hunter in Bangkok and mentioned that a bobber, scrambler, and even cafe racer variant of the bike would be a very sensible move for the brand.
