The sales decline of Classic 350 in recent months has heavily impacted the overall volume of Royal Enfield
Just like most of the two-wheeler manufacturers, Royal Enfield endured a difficult start to the financial year 2019-20. With total sales of 59,137 units in April 2019, Royal Enfield posted a massive 20.8 per cent YoY sales decline as it finished sixth behind Yamaha with 3.61 per cent market share. In seventh place, Suzuki was not far away as just over 2,000 separated them.
The homegrown manufacturer is steadily losing volumes in recent months despite the phenomenal success story of the range-topping 650 Twins. The latter saw incremental sales every month and they got past 2,000 units for the first time leaving their rivals from Harley-Davidson and Triumph at their wake.
Last month, the two-wheeler industry suffered 16.3 per cent sales drop and most of the Royal Enfield models were on the downward path. RE depends on Classic 350 for bringing big volumes monthly and thus its sales tally impacts the manufacturer heavily for better or worse.
In the recent past, the Classic 350 has been facing consistent sales slump and April 2019 was no different as 35,196 units were retailed against 52,075 units in the corresponding month last year with 32 per cent de-growth. The Classic 350 finished as the tenth most sold motorcycle in India as opposed to its position higher up the order previously.
The oldest brand in continuous production updated its lineup with mandatory ABS feature recently as the Classic 350 dual-channel ABS is priced at Rs. 1.53 lakh (ex-showroom) – around Rs. 6,000 dearer than the non-ABS variant. The Eicher Motors owned company is working on the next generation Classic 350 and it has already been spied in the wild a few times.
Expected to arrive next year, it will likely have a brand new engine with fuel injection technology judging by new fins and chain drive on the left hand. It will be BSVI compliant while the body panels, headlamps and taillamps will also be upgraded to inject a fresh retro design to the upcoming Classic 350. It will be based on a redesigned chassis and swingarm and there will be no kick starter.