Royal Enfield's wheels of fortune

Book review of Indian Icon: A Cult Called Royal Enfield

Many great books and films have started on the road, and for a subject such as Royal Enfield, this story is no different. 

Well, sort of. Turn the visually arresting gold and black hard cover to the opening lines and the first few pages transport the reader to National Highway (NH) 62 between Jodhpur and Ahmedabad where a 350 CC Bullet motorcycle stands on a cement pedestal, a nod to its owner who died in an accident. Folklore has it that his spirit stands as protector of travellers. The book then jumps from one Enfield owner to another in a sort of meandering narrative before finally getting on with the story, which opens with the company’s current promoter and his father in conversation. 

Amrit Raj, an experienced chronicler of automotive business news, is adept at playing historian of India's version of Harley-Davidson. His research, especially in the years before Royal Enfield's meteoric rise to fame and fortune, are commendable. Though arm-chair critics often suggest that newspaper references are an easy shortcut to writing about big business houses, the truth couldn't be further from reality. In fact, knowing what facts to cull out is half the battle in writing corporate biographies, and in this case the author has the advantage of having written on Enfield and Siddhartha Lal over many years. He is, therefore, able to delve into his own experiences to recall tales that fit the narrative. 

Amazon Westland has created a memorable product but it would behove the American giant to pay more edition to the quality of its proof-reading and copy-editing. A reference to Robert M Pirsig, famed author of cult classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, spells his last name wrong. This would be a minor detraction in most books but it that stands out in this one because it is all about motorcycles and would no doubt leave poor Pirsig rolling in his grave.

Moving along, the uncomplicated narrative tracks how the famed motorcycle company made its way into modernity, dodging potholes and financial speed breakers, driven largely by the efforts of its young owner and CEO Siddhartha Lal, who supposedly ran the firm without interference from his father Vikram Lal. 

Indian Icon: A Cult Called Royal Enfield

Author: Amrit Raj 

Publisher: Amazon Westland

Pages: 320; Price: Rs 699

Later chapters trace how Weiden & Kennedy created smart campaigns around the bikes and enabled the motorcycles to assume a new modern identity. The author dives deep, and rightly so, into the origins of the bike's DNA, the values that were designed to create its image of rugged durability, which has become synonymous with its distinctive sound, and its reputation for being easy to repair. There are insightful pages that take us to the conversations between Lal and the branding team that created Royal Enfield's campaigns and strategy to differentiate itself in the market. More information on the various motorcycles and how they perform differently would have been interesting as would an analytical insight into the fact that, like Rolex, vintage Enfields actually hold on to their value unlike most other two-wheeler brands.

The nuggets of reporting in the book would be of interest to biking aficionados and MBA students alike. What does come across as unanswered questions are depictions of the dynamics between father and son and glimpses of how the decision-making process may well have been carved out between the two of them.

Such dynamics are well documented in granular fashion by the author when it comes to the relationship between the late Rudy Singh, appointed CEO in Enfield's later years, and Lal.

There the reporting drills down sharply detailing exactly why and over what the two saw differently and how the separate visions led to Singh's departure. 

Truth be told, there's more meat in the book when it comes to getting a sense of management thinking and insight into the strategic twists and turns of the motorcycle company and its journey to going global, opening across foreign markets and how Lal saw the industry and the company grow. Though the author does have excerpts and inputs from the younger Lal based on conversations with him over the years, it is regrettable that the promoters did not deem it important enough to lend their voice to what will certainly be read and referred to by Enfield motorcycle owners, now and down the ages. Lal did offer a few comments and the company has shared photographs and other historical material with the author, but an opportunity may have been missed. Somewhere, there's a message for company owners who control their brands.