Royal Enfield will expand its production capacity to 150,000 units per annum by next year. Its production facility, which is under construction now at Oragadam, near Chennai, will be operational next year, said Shaji Koshy, senior vice president, sales and marketing.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, he said the company had set sales target of 100,000 units this year. It sold 75,000 bikes in 2011.
The company would also increase the number of dealers across the country from 80-odd now. In Kerala, the dealership will be increased to 22 from 17. Sales in the state increased 48 per cent in 2011 over 2010. This year, sales have already increased 23 per cent. It had targeted to sell 700 units a month this year and 1,000 per month next year.
He said the bikes would be exported to Sri Lanka soon. On the export front, the company performed well in the US and UK markets. The company on Wednesday launched its new Thunderbird 500 in the Kerala market. It also introduced the all-new Thunderbird 350. Thunderbird 500 is available for Rs 172,539 and 350 comes with a price of Rs 135,408 (onroad Kochi).