Royal Enfield Bullet 500, Classic 500 and Thunderbird 500 endured 65%, 74% and 65% YoY sales decrease respectively in May 2019
Royal Enfield has the Classic 350 as its best-selling motorcycle in India for long and its monthly sales tally makes or breaks the brand’s overall volume display. In May 2019, the homegrown manufacturer sold 35,998 units of the Classic 350 as against 51,147 during the corresponding month last year. This led to a YoY volume decrease of 30 per cent as the sales slump has continued on.
Last month, there were encouragingly four motorcycles that posted positive sales growth for Royal Enfield and all of them were 350 cc models along with the Himalayan adventure tourer. The Bullet 350 Twinspark registered 18 per cent sales increase as 11,995 units were retailed against 10,180 units while the Thunderbird 350 and Bullet Electra recorded 4,735 and 2,979 units with 10 and 12 per cent sales growth respectively.
The Himalayan, on the other hand, garnered 1,192 unit sales with 12 per cent sales jump. The overall tally of Royal Enfield would have been much higher if it was supported by the 500 cc models. However, it did not turn out to be the case as seen in recent months due to one significant reason.
| Royal Enfield Models | Sales In May 2019 |
| Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 | 2,427 |
| Bullet 500 | 140 (-65% growth) |
| Classic 500 | 612 (-74% growth) |
| Thunderbird 500 | 133 (-65% growth) |
The Bullet 500, Classic 500 and Thunderbird 500 encountered massive de-growth in May 2019 65, 74 and 65 per cent sales decline respectively. This was down to the higher popularity for the Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 as both are thriving in sales taking advantage of their aggressive price points and the monopoly position using 648 cc parallel twin engines.
Royal Enfield introduced the 650 Twins back in November 2018 as the Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 carry shockingly affordable price tags of Rs. 2.50 lakh and Rs. 2.65 lakh (ex-showroom) respectively. In May 2019, 2,427 units of the 650 Twins were sold and it was their highest tally yet. It is tipped to further increase in the coming months due to no direct competition.
Spending in the range between Rs. 1.75 lakh and Rs. 2 lakh (ex-showroom) for the 500 cc models may not be found fruitful enough by customers as for the extra Rs. 50,000 or so they could actually buy the more engaging to ride 650 Twins instead with 47 horsepower and 52 Nm of peak torque. The 650 Twins offer dual-channel ABS and slip-assist clutch as standard and they are the most modern REs out there.