Royal Enfield, which is a subsidiary arm of Eicher Motors, is one of the most sales earning two-wheeler brands in the Indian biking Industry. Not only in India but also at the global front with export markets like Europe, North America, and Asia, the brand is expanding its reach across the globe. The Eicher Motors of India has already showcased its potential in the middle-weight category with the Chennai-based automaker, Royal Enfield, globally acknowledged for its retro-styled motorcycles. Now with Volkswagen is searching for a buyer to sell Ducati, Royal Enfield could buy this most iconic brand among high-performance motorcycles, Ducati.
According to the latest reports, Volkswagen, the German automaker, which is reeling under a perplexed diesel emission scandal, has approached Royal Enfield to purchase Ducati at the estimated asking price of around 1.5 billion Euros (Rs. 10,500 crores). Five years back in time, in 2012, Volkswagen acquired Ducati for around Rs. 6000 crores.
Royal Enfield is evaluating how Ducati could be beneficial for them and fit into its product lineup and align with its operations. As RE’s existing lineup is dominated by motorcycles powered by engines between 349-535cc and Ducati only manufactures motorcycles with powertrains ranging between 800cc to 1200cc. So it could be a great move for the Indian cruiser bikes manufacturer.
Though, Eicher Motors MD, Mr. Siddhartha Lal did not give any concrete answer on Ducati purchase, But, he left some suspects by saying they are open to thoughts and ideas.
But guys hold your excitement before making an early comment on the sale of Ducati to Royal Enfield as various other International manufacturers such as Honda, Hero, Harley-Davidson, Suzuki and Polaris are also in the queue that is also considering to purchase, the Panigale maker.
As per Eicher Motors recently revealed plans, the company was going to invest Rs. 800 crores in Royal Enfield which will be used to ramp up production capacity to 8.25 lakh units this fiscal and also to develop new products. Last year, the company’s consolidated total income which also includes the automaker’s truck business (it has a pact with Volvo for VE commercial vehicles and Polaris for personal utility vehicles) was Rs. 2132.5 crores.