Royal Enfield plans to launch 350 studio outlets in rural market

Royal Enfield is looking to launch 350 studio outlets in rural areas of India. 

The Chennai-based two-wheeler brand registered a 13% decline in its overall sales in the fourth quarter of last year, therefore, it is now aiming the rural market to increase sales. 

Lalit Malik, Chief Financial Officer of Eicher Motors, said, "The new studio outlets, which would be inaugurated in the rural area, would have 225 sq ft of retail space and 275 sq ft of workshop area. The company would add 80 regular-format stores in 2019. Currently, Royal Enfield has 825 stores in India while the global outlet number stands at 42."

"These studio outlets will be one-sixth the size of a typical Royal Enfield showroom in a metro. We don’t expect these small stores to sell more than 12-20 bikes per month. This is our first rural foray in India. Under our big distribution thrust, we aim to touch 1,100 towns via 1,350 stores this year," he added.

Royal Enfield has a network of 825 outlets in the country with 42 stores spread across the world. It is aiming to have 1,350 stores in 1,100 towns this year.