“It could take us a little bit more time to just get the nuances and everything absolutely spot on. We don’t want to do it fast, we want to do it amazing. That's our approach,” Siddhartha Lal, Managing Director, Eicher Motors told ETAuto during the post earnings conference media call.
Without sharing a specific timeline for the launch, Lal said the demand for electric motorcycles is behind electric scooters as they require bigger battery, which means it is heavy, and there's no packaging space. "It is expensive and doesn't even compare properly to petrol motorcycles."
"Globally, the market is not gagging for electric motorcycles yet. And that is going to be the case owing to packaging issues, until batteries become much lighter, cheaper and smaller," he said.
Last year, the premium motorcycle maker said it will bring the electric motorcycle by 2025.
Royal Enfield is working on two electric motorcycle platforms-- an in-house and another in collaboration with Spanish startup Stark Motorcycle. In November last year, the company showcased its first ever electric motorcycle at Exhibition of International Motorcycle and Accessories (EICMA) at Milan, Italy.
In December 2022, the company made a strategic investment in European electric motorcycle manufacturer Stark Future SL. This investment has opened opportunities for a long-term partnership for collaborative R&D in electric motorcycles, technology sharing, technical licensing, and manufacturing for Eicher Motors.
While the electric scooters have been taking the lead in the electric two-wheeler space, the electric motorcycle segment in the country is occupied by a handful of startup brands, together clocking about 1000 units. This includes Ultraviolette, Revolt, Hop Electric, Tork Motors, Oben, Orxa. In the coming months, companies like Raptee, Matter, Komaki are expected to enter the space.
Meanwhile, conventional players have shared plans but none has entered the market yet. Market leader Hero MotoCorp is developing electric motorcycles in partnership with US-based electric motorcycle maker Zero Motorcycles. TVS Motor company has made investments in Bengaluru-based Ultraviolette.
When asked if Royal Enfield is also looking at any inorganic growth opportunities, the company denied saying that there is nothing beyond this. “We are very conservative on that front. We never say never but we are not hungry for acquisition. There's nothing out there that interests us at all, at this point.”
Premium Motorcycle Segment
The mid-size motorcycle segment (250-750 cc) where Royal Enfield operates, clocked about 9.36 lakh units in FY24, taking up 8.1% share of the domestic motorcycle market in India.
Royal Enfield has sells 10 products in its portfolio. The maker of Classic and Bullet motorcycles has lined up a capex of INR 1200 crore for FY25, up from INR 1000 invested in FY24.
Talking about the growing competition from other players including Harley Davidson and Triumph and Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto entering the premium two wheeler space, Lal said “With all the renewed competition, there is more spotlight on our segment. We believe that this competition will grow the size of the market.”
By September, Royal Enfield will also introduce an ethanol-based motorcycle. This comes as part of government mounting pressure on domestic two wheeler makers to move to alternative fuel technologies. When asked about considering other options, Lal said, “To that extent our focus as of now is on petrol motorcycles and EVs in the time to come.”
In the quarter ended March 2024, Royal Enfield recorded sales of 2.27 lakh units, up 6% from 2.14 lakh in the year-ago period.
In the long term, the company aims to grow 2X of the domestic premium motorcycle industry and be the middleweight leader in motorcycles across the globe.
Eicher Motors also sells commercial vehicles through its joint venture Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles (VECV).
On Saturday, Eicher reported an 18% growth in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at INR 1,070 crore for Q4 FY24. The company posted a PAT of INR 906 crore during the corresponding period last year. Its total revenue increased 12% to INR 4,256 crore in the January-March quarter of FY24 compared to INR 3,804 crore in the corresponding quarter of FY23.
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