Eicher Motors to invest Rs 600 crore this fiscal

Investment will be towards product development, capacity expansion and R&D

Eicher Motors, manufacturing the Royal Enfield, is all set to invest Rs 600 crore this fiscal in a new plant, product development and in the R&D centre. The company also said production capacity will touch 9,00,000 units by fiscal 2018 end.

Speaking to reporters at the company's facility at Oragadam, near Chennai, Siddhartha Lal, managing director and CEO, Eicher Motors, said by end of the current year, total capacity will be around 6,75,000 units, which is more than two lakh units compared to last year.

The first phase of Vallam Vadagal facility, which will be 7 kms from the Oragadam facility, will be ready by September 2017. This facility will take the company's total capacity to 9,00,000 units.

Portion of the proposed Rs 600-crore investment will go into the facility, while the balance will be towards proposed new engineering centres at Chennai and the UK and for product development.

Lal said the company will be operating in 2 or 3 platforms, while there will be some delete and add.

The recent addition was Himalayan platform. The company started rolling out products and is currently selling around 1,000 units a month. The company hopes to increase it as the product will be available across dealerships.

Lal said RE focus would be 250-750cc and besides the Indian market, the company will focus on South East Asia and Latin America.