Royal Enfield to market the Himalayan with premium 150cc buyers in mind

We’re just a day away from the official launch of one of the most anticipated motorcycles from Royal Enfield – the Himalayan. In fact, we rode the Himalayan last weekend in the Himalayas and you can read the first ride review of the motorcycle here. 

While it’s been a really long time since the Indian enthusiast crowd has been wanting an affordable adventure motorcycle, it’s interesting to see that Royal Enfield isn’t positioning the Himalayan to this same set of enthusiasts. Though the talk in the media circles is of it being an adventure-based bike, RE set the record straight for us. During a one-to-one interaction with Siddhartha Lal, CEO & MD, Royal Enfield, he informed BikeWale that they’ve developed the Himalayan to cater to a much younger audience; someone who is currently riding a premium 150cc motorcycle like a Yamaha YZF R15 or the Honda Unicorn range. 

Royal Enfield is marketing the Himalayan as a multi-purpose motorcycle and the only motorcycle one should have at home. While some of the Indian adventure enthusiasts will surely buy the Himalayan, getting more buyers from the mass market segment clearly shows that the Chennai-based company is looking for volumes. 

In terms of pricing too, we’re expecting Royal Enfield to competitively price the Himalayan. In fact, we think it’ll be priced marginally lower than the Classic 500, which currently retails at Rs 1.60 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). It’ll be tough to convince an Indian buyer to buy a motorcycle which is less than 500cc, but if priced more than that RE might not have takers and that's what their team has figured out. So we are expecting the pricing of the Himalayan to really draw in the crowd.

Stay tuned to BikeWale as we get you more details from the Himalayan launch tomorrow.