Royal Enfield starts local assembly unit, CKD facility in Thailand

With this, Royal Enfield now has three local CKD units, in addition to the three manufacturing facilities in Chennai

Eicher Motors on Thursday said its Royal Enfield motorcycle unit commenced operations of its exclusive local assembly unit and CKD (Completely Knocked Down) facility in Thailand.

With this, Royal Enfield now has three local CKD units - in Argentina, and Colombia in Latin America, and in Thailand - in addition to the three manufacturing facilities in Chennai, India.

Besides catering to consumers in Thailand, this assembly unit will act as a distribution hub for all other countries in South-East Asia, including Indonesia, Vietnam, etc.

To begin with, the facility will start local assembly of the Himalayan, Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 models, starting this month.

B Govindarajan, executive director, Royal Enfield, said: "Royal Enfield has been working extensively to grow and expand the middleweight motorcycling segment globally. With a strategic view to grow the business and cater to increasing demand we have been pursuing our plans to set up local assembly units in priority markets beginning with Argentina in 2020 and then Colombia earlier this year. Continuing this journey and marking a first for us in the Asia Pacific region, we are very happy to announce the commencement of operations at the CKD assembly plant in Thailand. A testament to our commitment to the region and the market potential, and to our growing community of riding enthusiasts, this facility will enable us to efficiently cater to the growing demand in the Asia-pacific region, and also become the hub for the rest of Southeast Asian markets."

Thailand has been a critical market for Royal Enfield since the brand's market foray in 2015. Having made significant strides in the country and the APAC region, Royal Enfield is now amongst the top five players in the premium, mid-size motorcycle segment in markets such as Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Korea.

A division of Eicher Motors, Royal Enfield is the leader in the global mid-size motorcycle market. Royal Enfield's premium line-up includes the all-new Classic 350, the Meteor 350 cruiser, Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 twins, the Himalayan adventure tourer, and the iconic Bullet 350 and Classic 350 singles.

On a consolidated basis, Eicher Motors' net profit jumped 8.7% to Rs 373.20 crore on 4.94% increase in net sales to Rs 2,216.40 crore in Q2FY21 over Q2FY20.

Eicher Motors is the listed parent of Royal Enfield, the global leader in middleweight motorcycles. In addition to motorcycles, Eicher has a joint venture with Sweden's AB Volvo - Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles which operates in India's commercial vehicle space.

On Thursday, shares of Eicher Motors were down 0.70% at Rs 2,522.55.

(With inputs from Capital Markets)