Royal Enfield recorded a Year-on-Year sales de-growth of 13% in the first month of 2020, but exports grow
Royal Enfield has upgraded four of its bikes to comply with the stringent BS6 emission norms already, but the transition is proving to be a difficult affair for the homegrown manufacturer. RE registered a total sale of 63,520 units in the month of January 2020, which is 13% lower than the 72,701 units the brand was able to sell in the same month in 2019.
The majority of the sales numbers for Royal Enfield come from motorcycles with an engine capacity under 350 cc, which includes the Bullet 350, Classic 350, Thunderbird 350 and Thunderbird 350 X. RE sold 59,200 units of these bikes last month, which resulted in a 12.83% decline in YoY sales, as the manufacturer sold 67,915 units in January 2019.
| Motorcycles | Sales (January 2020) | Sales (January 2019) |
| Under 350 cc | 59,200 | 67,915 |
| Over 350 cc | 4,320 | 4,786 |
| Total Domestic sales | 63,520 | 72,701 |
| Exports | 2,228 | 1,829 |
| Cumulative sales | 65,748 | 74,530 |
On the other hand, the Chennai-based manufacturer sold 4,320 units of bikes with engine capacity over 350 cc last month, which include Bullet 500, Classic 500, Thunderbird 500, Thunderbird 500X, Himalayan, Continental GT 650 and Interceptor 650. This has resulted in a 9.74% de-growth in sales as compared to the same month in the previous year.
Even though the domestic sales have suffered a decline, the exports have certainly risen. Royal Enfield exported 1,829 motorcycles in January 2019, which increased by 21.82% to 2,228 units in the same month in 2020. FY20 YTD exports have almost doubled at 33,776 units, as against 15,864 units sold in the period of April 2018 to January 2019.
The cumulative sales came down by 11.78% from 74,530 units in January 2019, to 65,748 in the same month this year. Royal Enfield has already upgraded the Himalayan, the 650 Twins, as well as the Classic 350 to comply with the latest emission norms.
The manufacturer previously confirmed that it will not be upgrading the 500 cc bikes to be BS6-compliant, and will completely phase out the Bullet 500, Thunderbird 500/500X and Classic 500 from the country, once the BS6 emission norms come into effect on April 1, 2020. However, the 500 range will continue to be sold across all international markets.
Powering the 500 range is the same BS4-compliant 499 cc single-cylinder, 4-stroke, air-cooled, fuel-injected motor that puts out 27.2 hp of maximum power at 5,250 rpm, and 41.3 Nm of peak torque at 4,000 rpm. The engine comes paired to a 5-speed transmission.