Royal Enfield on Wednesday said the company was in a “learning” stage in North America and in the mid to long term, an increase in price due to tariff hikes, if any, would not “matter much.”
The bike maker’s reaction follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning of higher import duties on motorcycles from India.
“We are in a learning stage in the U.S., we move to the earn stage later,” Rudratej Singh, president, Royal Enfield told The Hindu. “We have redefined our dealer strategy and we have our own company operations there,” he added.
He said price was the last lever which the firm focused on for attaining growth. “The price change will not affect us in medium to long term,” he said.
The company, which on Wednesday unveiled a new range of its Thunderbird model, did not share any data on sales in the U.S. but said that the numbers were ahead of their plans.
Mr. Singh further said the company was bullish about the North American market, particularly with the upcoming introduction of Interceptor and Continental GT which would be powered by a brand new 650 cc twin-cylinder engine.
Royal Enfield’s Thunderbird 500X and Thunderbird 350X are priced at ₹1,98,878 and ₹1,56,849 (ex-showroom Delhi), respectively.
In January 2018, the company sold 77,878 two-wheelers of which just 1,673 units were sold in the international market.
Published - February 28, 2018 10:06 pm IST
