We Will Continue Our Growth With Opening More Stores: Rudratej (Rudy) Singh

Royal Enfield has recently launched its limited edition of Classic 500 ‘Pegasus’ motorcycle. The model is inspired by the legendary RE/WD 125 Flying Flea motorcycle that was manufactured at Royal Enfield’s facility in the UK during World War 2. Alongside the launching of the model the company is also planning to continue its spree of retail expansion in India with launching more dealership centres across metros to tier II and III towns. It has allocated overall capital expenditure of Rs 800 crore - which is not specifically broken into parts and compartments- for this financial year. Under its Accessibility Market Development program the company is also planning to reach out to more potential consumers those do not have access to its products. Thus, briefing about the brands exclusive model, future retail expansion plans, future strategies and its philosophy in the Indian market Rudratej (Rudy) Singh - President Royal Enfield spoke to FranchiseIndia.com on the sideline of the launch of ‘Pegasus’ in Mumbai.

A Motorcycle of Storytelling

Rudy says, “Classic 500 ‘Pegasus’ is a vehicle of storytelling of our deep association with arm forces of World War II. With ‘Pegasus’ we are also bringing back our authentic revival history which is relevant and contemporary today. With this model a lot of people don’t necessarily know how deep we are in terms of our pedigree, our legacy, and our association.”

He narrates, “This motorcycle is a story of an aspect of self-discovery, adventure and self-expression. Globally we have made only 1000 motorcycles of Classic 500 ‘Pegasus’ out of which only 250 will be sold in India on the first come first serve basis.”

About Future

Rudy adds that “We now have close to 829 stores across the country. We have a similar number of multi-brand and exclusive stores across the globe. While expanding our retail footprints in India we have added close to 140 stores in the last one year.

He says, “We don’t reveal the exact numbers but we will continue our growth with opening few more stores across new potential cities.”

Bright Franchising Future

Rudy emphasizes, “Our core model will be the franchising. We have company-owned stores which we intend to retain and even expand as the company-owned stores become pilots for future experiences. The size of each store will differ from cities to cities depends upon the density of the population of the city. The overall capital expenditure, which is not specifically broken into parts and compartments, is Rs 800 cr for this financial year.”

Future Strategy

Rudy reveals, “The strategy is to drive accessibility. We want to make sure that we are available not just for sales but for services, spare parts and ride as well. When we get our infrastructure ready then only we open our dealership centers.”

AMDP

He says, “As part of our Accessibility Market Development Program we are looking at other cities. There are people who love Royal Enfield but are not buying a product so this is a plan to make it more accessible. So with this program, we will see few more stores in this fiscal. These stores will be across metros to tier II to III cities.”

Philosophy and Ideology

Rudy says, “We want to build a narrative and make it relevant for all the people who buy into Royal Enfield ideology. We want to be authentic with our design, character association and to be accessible. We want people to believe in our idea to choose our products with what we have promised.”

He further adds, “We are not here to capture or snatch market share. We are here to expand our market and create a segment of our own. There is no middleweight segment in India than our own. We are good at market development hence, our brand managers are our consumers and our community.”

He concludes by saying, “India contributes sizeable chunk to our global business.”