Royal Enfield expands its Thai ambitions, to start local assembly of bikes

Royal Enfield on Thursday announced the commencement of operations of its local assembly unit and CKD (Completely Knocked Down) facility in Thailand with an eye on the growing market for two-wheelers in the South-East Asia region. Apart from its state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Chennai, this is the third local CKD facility after Argentina and Colombia.

The local assembly unit of Royal Enfield will not just cater to local demand but will also double up as a distribution hub for countries in the South-East Asia region like Indonesia, Vietnam and others. The company is confident that this will further bolster prospects and enhance growth opportunities for it. “With a strategic view to grow the business and cater to increasing demand we have been pursuing our plans to set up local assembly units in priority markets beginning with Argentina in 2020 and then Colombia earlier this year," said B Govindarajan, Executive Director, Royal Enfield. "Continuing this journey and marking a first for us in the Asia Pacific region, we are very happy to announce the commencement of operations at the CKD assembly plant in Thailand.

At the present stage, the Royal Enfield facility will begin with the local assembly of Himalayan, Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 this month.

Royal Enfield first entered the Thai market in 2015 and claims to have taken big strides here and in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region since. The company states it is now among the top five players in the premium, mid-size motorcycle segment in markets such as Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Korea.

The growing demand for Royal Enfield products, therefore, may have convinced the company to now open local assembly in Thailand while also focusing on expanding retail network here and in the region.