Royal Enfield is stepping up to compete with the global manufacturers in the high displacement segment.
Royal Enfield has been a cult motorcycle manufacturer in the Indian market for the longest time but has only been producing bikes for the 350-500cc segment. The increasing demand of buyers for larger displacement motorcycles will be met with new platforms from the company. These will be the J, P, Q and K platforms. The naming isn’t all that catchy but simplicity is what separates Royal Enfield from others.
The J platform will be used for making motorcycles for the 350-500cc segment. The company wants to guard its 90 percent market share and hence will continue to bring out new motorcycles in this segment in the coming years. The P platform, on the other hand, will cater to the twin-cylinder bikes. Two of these, the Royal Enfield GT 650 and the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 will be launched in India very soon. The bikes are production ready and even their complete specifications are out.
The Q and K platforms will be all-new and it is through bikes produced with these underpinnings that Royal Enfield will compete with Harley-Davidson and Triumph. The bikes based on the Q platform will have an engine displacement between 600-700cc which will directly place them against the Harley-Davidson Street Rod. Bikes above 700cc will be produced on the K platform and will go head to head with the likes of the Triumph Thruxton which is a Café Racer.
Royal Enfield is also working to better its manufacturing technologies to produce better quality bikes. It will be a must if it wants to sell the larger displacement bikes globally which it is already planning to do. This will also help in attracting the Indian buyers who are especially concerned about the fit and finish.
The new platforms from Royal Enfield are moving in the opposite direction as the Harley-Davidson. While the latter has already put out its plans to enter the entry-level sports bike segment, the former is countering it by entering a segment that Harley-Davidson aces in. It is, however, worth mentioning here that the bikes based on the Q and K platforms will only start coming in after 2020. Will the company manage to replicate the success it has found in the current segment in the more premium segment, only time can tell.
High Displacement Royal Enfield
– The bikes will be based on all-new Q and K platforms
– J and P platforms will cater to the existing segment and twin-cylinder bikes respectively
– A dozen new motorcycles will be launched in the next three to five years
– High displacement Royal Enfields will be launched post 2020
Source – ETAuto.com