Royal Enfield, the niche motorcycle brand of Eicher Motors, said it will commence local assembly of motorcycles in Argentina in partnership with Grupo Simpa, a local distributor in the country since 2018.
This is the first time in Royal Enfield’s modern history that motorcycles will be assembled and produced outside the company’s manufacturing facilities in Chennai.
This development comes as a surprise since Thailand was set to host the first assembly plant of Royal Enfield outside India in mid-2019. The company had also spoken about having a completely knocked down plant in Vietnam too.
Royal Enfield set up retail operations in Argentina in March 2018, with its first store in Vicente Lopez, Buenos Aires. Since then the company has expanded its retail network in the market and now has five exclusive stores in that country. Overall, Royal Enfield has 31 exclusive stores and 40 other retail touch points in all of Latin American countries.
The local assembly unit in Argentina will be based at Grupo Simpa’s facility located in Campana, Buenos Aires. To begin with, the plant will locally assemble three motorcycle models - the Royal Enfield Himalayan, the Interceptor 650 and the Continental GT 650 - starting this month.
Vinod K Dasari, CEO, Royal Enfield, said, “Over the last couple of years, we have grown our international presence significantly and now have retail presence across 60 countries. With a strategic view to cater to growing demand and to gain significant market advantage, we have been pursuing our plans to set up local assembly units across specific markets in the Asia Pacific region and across South America."
Brazil, Argentina and Colombia are among the three most important markets for Royal Enfield in Latin America. Outside of India Royal Enfield 660 dealerships and 82 exclusive brand stores in cities such as Milwaukee, London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Melbourne, Sao Paulo, Bogota, Medellin, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Dubai, Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City.
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