How the Bullet found its mark

13 June 2007

A legendary bike that lost its way is back on the road to success, says Venkatachari Jagannathan.

Talk of iconic or cult motorcycles in India, and only the Enfield Bullet rides into one''s mind. The country''s first four stroke bike — the 350cc Enfield Bullet — is more than 50 years old today. But great things have been happening to it. Royal Enfield, the motorcycles division of Eicher Motors, which rolls out this legendary bike, has developed a Euro 3 compliant engine for the overseas market and launches a bike breeching the Rs1 lakh price point.

At the shop floor, it is back to basics. Royal Enfield is consciously setting right quality glitches, to make this classic bike a winner not just on the road, but in the showroom too. At the Thiruvottiyur plant near Chennai, the mood is upbeat. The 650 strong workers, who were used to a laid-back attitude during the first quarter for years, are now working overtime to meet delivery schedules. The entire shopfloor is humming with activity, to exceed the previous quarter''s production figures. Everything is geared to overtake the year''s target of 40,000 units.

"Not long ago," says a plant supervisor, "targets like that used to be just wishful thinking." It''s a remarkable turnaround, thanks to one person — the 56-year-old CEO R L Ravichandran — himself a marketing icon in the motorbike industry. Originally incorporated as Enfield India Ltd, the company was acquired by the Eicher group and renamed Royal Enfield Motors Ltd. Later it became the Royal Enfield division of Eicher Motors.

A question of quality
Everybody knows the fate of bikes that fails on quality; they stop selling. "Irritants like oil leaks, or electrical failure are sure signs of death for a two wheeler today," Ravichandran says candidly. Royal Enfield itself has examples of various models - Fury, Silver Plus and Explorer - that rode into oblivion.

Like the brand, the problems in the bike too are legendary. Still, the Bullet survived as there was no competition in its class. It became an aspirational bike mainly because of its majestic looks, riding comfort and distinct engine sound. Everybody appreciated a Bullet. But when asked if they would like to own one, they would back out because of excessive ''maintenance''," says Ravichandran.