Having lived for over 9 decades of presence, Royal Enfield Bullet, the world’s oldest motorcycle in continuous production, has been launched in its new avatar and within a month it will make its way to its first home or a place of birth in Britain after decades.
With its new slogan “Bullet Meri Jaan”, the model will make its way to all evolved markets of the world to reignite its legacy.
Relaunched with a new generation of J series engine which meets the highly stringent Euro V norms, the new Bullet codenamed J1B comes on an all-new chassis and Royal Enfield promises to retain its iconic character of thump and easy riding from the new heart (the engine) and the body.
The model that traversed from Redditch in England to Tiruvottiyur in Madras in 1955, has evolved from a hand-built motorcycle to the one that goes through an automated assembly line with 550 bays to deliver a world class motorcycle.
Launching the new Bullet, Siddhartha Lal, MD of Eicher Motors paid tribute to its most iconic brand and said, it is on the back of Bullet, the entire “Royal Enfield empire” has been built and it is the Bullet model that brought Royal Enfield to the party.
“This motorcycle is unwavering; it does not change. It is our north star that keeps us honest and real. The rest of RE can go a little bit further left, right, a little bit more adventure, or touring, Bullet retains its essence and it is a product that we are going to sell globally. Bullet made the modern Royal Enfield – the one that is the world’s largest mid-size motorcycle company today,” explained Lal on retaining the form factor of its oldest motorcycle and its importance in Royal Enfield ‘s existence.
Mark Wells, the chief design officer Royal Enfield said that the key attributes of tiger eyes, teardrop tank, the bench seat, the thump – all of that has been retained, “the proportion, stance, straight back riding position is the same, yet it is an all-new motorcycle, virtually nothing is being carried forward in this 2023 motorcycle from the UCE model.”
Very soon the brand will hit the shores of the UK, Europe and other parts of the world.
Lal wants to take this storied brand with “Bullet Meri Jaan” tag line globally underscoring how Bullet has been an icon of India, having been part of the culture, tradition, and part of many generations within one family.
Lal recalled how he and the CEO of Royal Enfield, B Govindarajan took it upon themselves 25 years ago to seriously address the quality issues – which had impacted the brand.
Along the way the company has transformed from a motorcycle maker with a series of teething issues to a company that delivers world class motorcycles competing with the best, if not bettering them.
“We have made quality an obsession at Royal Enfield, we are truly deeply obsessed about quality, about manufacturing, about kaizen – continuous improvement. We have been at it for 25 years, today we have emerged as the number one in the world. We had taken quality to our heart and we are absolutely obsessed by it now,” the MD said.
Lal recalled how Royal Enfield has single handedly driven the mid-size motorcycle market which stood at about 50,000 units per annum company about a decade and half back to almost a million units currently, with the company enjoying a pre-dominant share of over 90%.
The Bullet will continue to play a pivotal role in the future in India as well as globally.
Royal Enfield currently sells about 12,000 to 13,000 units of Bullet every month with a predominant customer base in Northern and Southern part of India.
The average age of a Royal Enfield Bullet buyer is about 35-49 years old. With the updated product the company is hoping to appeal to a much larger audience across the country. This in tandem with global markets, the Bullet sales may potentially increase the monthly volumes to 20,000 units per month.
The growth in the Bullet franchise will also be helped by the overall premiumisation trend in the marketplace.
Despite the overall softness in the two-wheeler market, the premium sports segment is expected to grow at double the space of the mainstream market.
The rapidly improving road infrastructure, increasing product choices, the expanding riders club and growing community will continue to provide heft to the mid-size motorcycle segment in India.
Yadvinder Singh Guleria, the chief commercial officer of Royal Enfield said the Bullet carries the attributes of 5 Cs aptly – i.e. Craft, Culture, Character, Community and Charm – and these are the elements which is going to keep the motorcycle timeless.
“There is an element of human craft with its hand painted signature pinstripes on the vehicle tank. Bullet has a rich culture and heritage of over 90 years. Its unique thump and exhaust character resonates very well within the community of over 1200 groups and all this builds to a charm of Bullet,” added Guleria.
The model will appeal to a much larger audience with its new generation highly refined J engine both in India and global markets.