About Royal Enfield
Royal Enfield has a claim no rival can match: it has been building motorcycles, in one form or another, since the turn of the twentieth century, longer than any other brand still in production. It started in Redditch, England, with the slogan "Made like a gun," and today it is one of the great success stories of Indian manufacturing, selling well over a hundred thousand motorcycles in a good month and exporting retro-flavored bikes to dozens of countries.
The Indian chapter began in the 1950s, when Bullets were assembled in Madras for the Indian Army. The English parent folded around 1970, but the Indian operation kept building the old single almost unchanged for decades. Eicher took over in the 1990s, and under Siddhartha Lal the company modernized its engines and factories, opened a technical center in Britain and widened the range with the Classic 350, the Himalayan adventure bike and the 650 twins. Owners love the thump, the character and the low running costs; critics point to weight, vibration and finish that can lag the price of rivals.
The modern lineup is built on a handful of platforms: the J-series 350 singles behind the Classic, Bullet, Hunter and Meteor, the liquid-cooled 450 under the Himalayan and Guerrilla, and the 650 twin powering roadsters, cruisers and the Classic 650. Flying Flea is the new electric sub-brand. Rivals range from Honda's CB350 and Jawa at home to Triumph's 400s and Harley's X440. Expect a steady flow of launches, monthly sales figures, special editions, EICMA reveals and export news.