Royal Enfield has set up a new hub in the Netherlands, and has plans to open another warehouse in Europe, either in France or Germany, with an eye of strengthening its supply chain across Europe. According to reports, Royal Enfield’s parent company Eicher Motors Ltd has already set up the Dutch arm to reduce its dependency on the UK, after Brexit made it more difficult to move parts to mainland Europe. The brand is also in talks to establish a warehouse, likely to be either in France or Germany, to speed up the supply of products like spare parts and branded merchandise.
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Eicher Motors has invested 500,000 Euros (approximately Rs. 4.5 crore) into the new unit, called Royal Enfield Europe BV. According to Arun Gopal, Royal Enfield’s international head, who is quoted in a news report, the brand’s business is growing quickly in the EU and a new warehouse will cut lead times to two weeks from 90 days currently. Royal Enfield plans to start with one warehouse for non-motorcycle products and is in talks with logistics specialists in the EU to manage its range. Germany and France are potential countries for the new warehouse, although no decision has been made as yet.
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The Bullet 350, Royal Enfield's oldest model in continuous production, has been revamped with the J-series engine and is now positioned as a global product.
In recent years, Royal Enfield has been increasingly pushing across global markets, with exports being a prime focus of its business strategy. In 2023, the company inched closer to the 1 million sales mark, and over the last decade the company has performed above expectations. Although the bulk of Royal Enfield’s motorcycle sales (over 80 per cent) still come from the domestic market, exports have been steadily increasing but still constitute less than 10 per cent of overall sales.
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With the new 350 cc J-series platform, the 650 Twins, the Himalayan 411, and the current Himalayan 450, Royal Enfield has streamlined its entire product line-up in recent years to be global products, which will be offered on sale around the world. Clearly, with its origins in the UK, the European market may offer more potential for the brand’s growth and better supply chain and footprint presence may be a step in the right direction.
