[TusharK]

Royal Enfield has announced a capital expenditure of Rs. 800 crore for FY2018-19. The bike maker will also start construction of Phase-2 of its Vallam Vadagal plant in Tamil Nadu this year.



With production already underway at the Phase-1 of Vallam Vadagal unit and having optimized the productivity at the Oragadam plant, the annual production capacity for the current fiscal year is expected to be around 9,50,000 units. Royal Enfield's Technology Centre in Chennai will also be completed this year. Besides, investments will be made to develop new products that will meet the upcoming regulations, while also expanding its global portfolio.

Royal Enfield launched its retail operations in Thailand back in February 2016. The bike maker now plans to further strengthen its position in the South East Asian market by setting up wholly owned subsidiaries in Indonesia and Thailand in 2018-19.

Link to Team-BHP News

[Rajiv0909]

As a customer, i feel RE needs to spend more $s on modernization and Quality control than expansion. Their cash cow is getting old, has lost it's ornamental value and is struggling to keep pace with the new kids on the block. When that was not enough, product quality issues are turn away the loyalists.

[evilmessiah]

Originally Posted by Rajiv0909

As a customer, i feel RE needs to spend more $s on modernization and Quality control than expansion. Their cash cow is getting old, has lost it's ornamental value and is struggling to keep pace with the new kids on the block. When that was not enough, product quality issues are turn away the loyalists.

You said it! Instead of making more of the flawed products, they should focus on ironing out the kinks in the existing products. Deciding to invest all that scratch in expansion is akin to churning out horses that have a lame foot instead of curing the inherent limpness. Their QC is laughable and needs to improve big time. That money could have been utilized much better in after sales support, service quality, capacity of service centers to handle more vehicles and spares availability. A wasted opportunity and a lack of foresight.

As you said, the exclusivity thing is wearing off too- the core models RE sells are cash cows. Some 4-5 years back, I used to turn my head to look at an RE Classic. Now, black Classic 350-s are common like taxis- no one notices them- at least here in Cochin. The new RE models aren't successful (Continental GT) or are plagued with issues (Himalayan). The twin cylinder models look nice, but I would sit back and let the first ownership reviews come in. If they can't perfect a half a century plus old engine design, I wouldn't hold high hopes for a brand new one- that too a twin.