Siddhartha Lal, CEO of Royal Enfield, rides the first unit to be produced at a new motorcycle plant in India.

According to Siddhartha Lal, CEO of  Eicher Motors Ltd (owner of Royal Enfield Motorcycles), demand for Royal Enfield motorcycles has grown by 50 percent each year for the last two years. This growing demand has stressed the production capacity of the existing 60-year-old plant beyond its capability. It is currently capable of producing 144,000 units a year.

A new, 50-acre plant has therefore been opened at Oragadam, Tamil Nadu with a production capacity of 150,000 units. The combined production of both plants for 2013 is 175,000 units, but plans call for future expansion of the Oragadam plant, with forecast production to reach 250,000 units in 2014.

“At Royal Enfield we have recorded a major milestone today with this plant at Oragadam becoming operational,” said Mr. Lal, “We have been extremely successful in stretching the capacity of our existing 60 year old plant to record levels… Yet the demand for our motorcycles has continued to outpace the supply.”

With its first motorcycle having been built in 1901, Royal Enfield is the oldest motorcycle company in continuous production. There are currently several models available in Canada, including the Bullet 500, Electra and Café Racer models among others.

You can find out more at enfieldmotorcycles.ca.