Royal Enfield to expand two-wheeler capacity

Chennai, June 18:

Royal Enfield plans to expand its two-wheeler production capacity to 60,000 units a year, with an investment of Rs 25 crore, according to its Chief Executive Officer, Mr R.L. Ravichandran.

Addressing the launch of a new model, a 350-cc four-stroke Thunderbird Twinspark with twin spark plugs and unit construction engine (UCE) developed in-house, he said sales have been growing steadily and the company is now expanding its production capacity. In 2007-08, the company manufactured over 39,000 units.

The expanded production capacity would be in place by 2010-11, and by the time, it would have launched at least four more models — two for the domestic market and two for international markets — with the UCE.

UCE means the engine, clutch and gear box are in a single compact unit. In the current models, the clutch assembly and gear box are separate and bolted on to the engine. This engine has been developed in house using elements of the AVL, lean burn engine introduced a few years back.

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