Royal Enfield 650 twins have wait time of 4 months in Europe as region eludes slowdown

Royal Enfield 650 twins (Image source: Royal Enfield)

The slowdown in the Indian market notwithstanding, Royal Enfield's niche brand bikes are a big hit in Europe. Buyers in the UK and other European markets have to wait for as long as four months to possess any of the newly launched 650 twins.

The Interceptor 650 has become the highest-selling bike in its category in the UK and is also among the top 10 best-selling bikes (all segments) list. The Interceptor and Continental GT were launched in February in the UK, followed by other parts of Europe.

The two bikes currently command a wait time of 4-16 weeks depending upon the colour, a senior executive of Royal Enfield in charge of European operations said.

"We sold every motorcycle that landed across Europe and we have hundreds and hundreds of orders for the 650s yet to be fulfilled. The Interceptor has been the number one bike in its category in the UK this year and highly received in other markets. It is also in the top ten in all segments," Mark Spiller, European Marketing Manager, Royal Enfield told Moneycontrol at the EICMA event.

Spiller did not provide data of unserviced order backlog for the 650 twins when asked for it.

As per data from Royal Enfield, exports in the April-October period shot up by 149 percent to 27,502 units as against 11,065 units sold in the same period last year.

"The demand outstripped supply and we are sure that over the next few months we would have addressed them. The 650s generate 50 percent of Europe’s Royal Enfield sales. Himalayan is the next big seller in Europe," Spiller added.

Eicher Motors-controlled Royal Enfield has more than doubled its exports since the launch of the twins. Compared to 1,829 units exported in January 2019 the bike maker exported 4,426 units in October 2019.

"Our capacity was intentionally increased to cope with our growing volumes in Europe and other international markets. In Europe, we have Royal Enfield operations in 21 countries and globally in about 52 countries. Europe alone has 450 dealers and growing," Spiller added.

Growth in exports has come at a time when the Delhi-based bike maker is going through its worst phase ever. After reporting flat sales (including exports) in FY19 at 823,828 units as against 820,492 units sold in FY18, the brand recorded a 17 percent decline in sales during the April-October period to 422,262 units.