Swaraj Baggonkar Moneycontrol News
Eicher Motors-controlled Royal Enfield may decide to shelve its plan to produce concept bike KX. Instead the niche bike maker has promised to model future products on similar lines.
The Concept KX, a V-twin Bobber concept motorcycle, was showcased by Royal Enfield at the annual trade show EICMA in Milan, Italy in the second of November alongside the 650 twins – Interceptor and Continental GT.
Siddhartha Lal, Managing Director and CEO, Eicher Motors, said, “The Concept KX was appreciated tremendously by the global media and all participants at EICMA. We will base our future design direction on this model. This particular bike is not intended for production as yet, but if we get an amazing response, we can see what elements of this to take into our future production motorcycles.”
The Concept KX is inspired by the original Royal Enfield KX that was launched in the 1930s. That model was powered by a 1,140cc V-twin engine that propelled it to a top speed of 130 km per hour. It was one of the rare motorcycles whose gears were changed by hand and the clutch was operated by foot.
“The KX was the pinnacle of luxury motorcycling in the 1930s,” Lal added.
Except that the Himlayan off-roader Royal Enfield has always taken inspiration from a yesteryear model to launch its recent models. The Interceptor and Continental GT 650 twins, Classic Pegasus and Classic Signals were designed on the lines of previous generation models.
Two-thirds of Royal Enfield’s monthly volumes of 70,000 units accrue from the Classic model alone, while eight models make up the rest. The Himlayan clocks around 500-1,000 units a month, while the Classic sees monthly sales of 45,000 units.
“We don't even push the Himalayan very hard because we just want people to realise how amazing the model is. The idea is to have products like Himalayan, Thunderbird X and the 650 Twins, which will diversify our franchise a lot more. In order to sustain and grow our Classic franchise, we have things like Signals and Gunmetal Grey. All those ideas will strengthen the core as well,” Lal added.
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