In case you missed out, big things are ahead of Royal Enfield as the firm have plans to venture into the electric motorcycle sector and are very focused on achieving that goal. The news is that the firm is developing an electrical motorcycle platform to stay relevant in the future, according to Siddhartha Lal, CEO of Eicher Motors Ltd- owner of Royal Enfield.
“We are working on an electrical platform to advance the idea of pure motorcycling,” said Rudratej Singh, president, Royal Enfield. Based on his words, there is a “very small team” currently working on the development at the company’s UK technology centre.
One of the oldest motorcycle makers in the world that is still in production, Royal Enfield vows to keep itself going in the future and growing in the motorcycle industry. To do so, it “may need to look at things differently for electrical because we are still learning”.
Thus far, the firm had limited its product development, research and in-house innovation and its two technology and R&D centres located in Chennai and the UK.
Not to mention, joining the bandwagon of electric motorcycles would support the Indian government’s aim to promote the use of greener vehicles. In light of that, firms in the country such as Hero MotoCorp Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd, TVS Motor Co. Ltd and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd are also considering entering the electric bike market.
Apart from that, Royal Enfield would also need to overhaul its current motorcycle platforms to meet the impending safety and emission norms that are set to kick in from 2019 and 2020, respectively.
“How our platforms need to be re-engineered for the future is to be seen and we are working on it,” said Singh, adding that, it would “help if the company can do with its current platforms, but new platforms will be built if required”.
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