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    Devising a strategy to enhance salesof Royal Enfield bikes

    Version: 1.0

    Submitted to: Prof. J.N. Godinho

    By: Gaurav (04PGHR ), Gulshan (04PGHR ) , Manasi (04PGHR ) , Neelesh

    (04PGHR ), Shaveta (04PGHR45 )

    Au tho rs , 2004

    Devisingast r

    ategytoenhancesalesof

    RoyalEnfiel d

    bikes

    14

    th

    December2

    004

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    Table of Contents

    Table of Contents i

    1 Acknowledgement 1

    2 Executive Summary 2

    3 Introduction 3

    3.1 About the company 33.2 Marketing Network 33.3 Collaborations 33.4 Manufacturing 43.5 Infrastructure and Technology Collaborations 4

    4 SWOT Analysis 6

    5 Market Environment 7

    6 Consumer Behavior 9

    6.1 Description of sample 9

    6.2 Analysis of consumer survey 116.3 Buying Behaviour 14

    7 Competitive Scenario 16

    7.1 Porters five forces 167.2 Factors influencing buying decision 187.3 Comparative Analysis in Motorcycle Industry 18

    8 Recommendations 20

    8.1 Entry into other segments 208.2 Aggressive marketing & Advertising for brand reinforcement 208.3 Rejuvenating dealership network 208.4 Product Innovation 208.5 Financing schemes 21

    9 References 22

    9.1 Textbooks 229.2 Web References 22

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    1 Acknowledgement

    This project is aimed at understanding the Marketing Practices and

    implementation, through Royal Enfield bikes. The attempt has been to

    tie the various factors like Environment, Competitors and Consumers to

    understand the effectiveness of the present target market of the

    product. On the basis of the same, the Strengths, Weaknesses,

    Opportunities and Threats of/to Royal Enfield bikes have been

    identified. Also, an attempt to suggest some recommendations for

    increase in sales of the companys bikes has been made. Several

    people have played a significant role towards the successful completion

    of this project work and the researchers extend their gratitude to them.

    A deep sense of gratitude is owed to Mr. J.N. Godinho, Professor,

    Management Development Institute, Gurgaon who extended support

    and assistance throughout the project duration. Needless to say, his

    knowledge and experience have served as a continuous source ofencouragement and motivation. Without his invaluable support and

    guidance this project would not have been possible.

    Also a note of thanks to the exclusive dealer of Royal Enfield bikes, Mr.

    Amit Chawla, who helped in understanding the sales and competition in

    the bike industry.

    Finally a note of thanks is due to all those too many to single out by

    names, who have helped in no small measure by cooperating during

    the project and by providing constructive criticisms.

    Group VII

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    2 Executive Summary

    Royal Enfield is a motorcycle manufacturer, having its current base in

    India. The company is the currently leading the 350 c.c. bike segment

    with their flagship product Bullet. This report is an outcome of a study

    conducted to boost their sales, as part of our Marketing Practices

    Course assignment.

    There are several forces at work in every sector and every industry of

    an economy. The dynamic nature of every industry keeps the pulses of

    the companies operating in each sector racing. Our strategic analysis

    report is focussed on marketing and sales of Royal Enfield as a

    company. It also delves at all those forces at work that could

    potentially change the fortunes of a company. Be it a company that

    wants to enter a new market segment or a company that wishes to

    strategically position its products, this report is an invaluable tool for

    all. The report analyses the performance of the leading players in themotorcycle industry which are competitors of Royal Enfield or

    potentially can be one.

    This report outlines the study conducted for investigating the lean areas

    for Royal Enfield from a marketing and sales perspective. Also analyses

    have been mentioned at appropriate places in support of the same. To

    conclude, it provides a broad map of various strategies to boost Royal

    Enfield sales.

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    3 Introduction

    3.1 About the company

    Royal Enfield India was set up in 1955 when it started receiving 350ccbikes in kits from the UK and assembling them in Chennai, India. But,

    eventually the entire bike was manufactured in India and a couple of

    years later the Company started manufacturing the 500cc Bullet. By its

    sheer power, unmatched stability, superior riding comfort and rugged

    good looks, the Bullet dominated and continues to dominate the Indian

    roads. It is the dream choice of every motorcyclist in India with even

    the Indian Army and Police endorsing the Bike.

    In 1990, Royal Enfield entered into a strategic alliance with the Eicher

    Group, - a Rs.10 billion conglomerate and later merged with Eicher

    Group in 1994. The Eicher Group is one of India's leading automotive

    groups with diversified interests in the manufacture of Tractors,

    Commercial Vehicles, Automotive Gears, Exports, Garments,

    Management Consultancy and Motorcycles.

    Since then, the Company has made considerable investments in

    modernizing its manufacturing technology and systems and in 1996,

    when the Government decided to impose stringent norms for emission,

    Royal Enfield was the first motorcycle manufacturer to comply. Royal

    Enfield is amongst the first few Indian companies to obtain the WVTA

    (Whole Vehicle Type Approval) for meeting the European Community

    norms.

    3.2 Marketing Network

    To feel the pulse of the customers, Royal Enfield has set up a wide

    network of 13 marketing offices, 223 dealers in all major cities and

    towns, 25 spare parts distributors and stockists and 150 Authorized

    Service Centers. The Company also exports motorcycles to over 30

    countries like the USA, Japan, Bahrain, UK, Germany and many

    European countries through 5 international offices, 25 importers and

    over 200 dealers across the globe.

    3.3 Collaborations

    Royal Enfield has existing technical tie-ups with:

    AVL, Austria For new engines

    FW Egli For high power engines for 535cc and 624cc.

    Criterion Engineers, UK - For a new 5 speed transmission system

    DB Designs, UK - For styling

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    The headquarters of Royal Enfield Motors is situated at

    Thiruvottiyur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

    3.4 Manufacturing

    Royal Enfield's manufacturing operations go through a series of

    modernization and improvement efforts, with a number of automated

    processes. The Company has put in place modern manufacturing

    practices like Cellular layouts, Statistical process controls and Flexible

    manufacturing systems. The Chennai manufacturing facility has

    received the ISO 9001 certification and for managing its operations in a

    clean and safe environment, it has obtained the ISO 14001-quality

    certification.

    Royal Enfield ensures that all the components used in the bikes are

    sourced from the best vendors in the Indian automotive industry, who

    are geared to supply according to the Companys stringent quality

    standards. The company works closely with all of its suppliers, givingthem technical and managerial support while maintaining practices like

    Direct-On-Line and Vendor Self-Certification.

    3.5 Infrastructure and Technology Collaborations

    To manufacture quality bikes that are well known worldwide for their

    reliability and toughness state-of-the-art infrastructure is required, and

    that is just what Royal Enfield has done at their Chennai manufacturing

    facility.

    An active in-house Research & Development wing is constantly at workto meet changing customer preferences and the challenges of Indian

    and International environment standards. When introducing a new

    product, this team undertakes all related planning which includes a

    rigorous customer contact program, design, concurrent engineering and

    testing processes. The bike Design team at Royal Enfield is well

    equipped with high-end CAD/CAM workstations and the latest modeling

    software. Top-notch designers work continuously to come up with

    innovative bikes designs to meet the markets expectations.

    Royal Enfield was also amongst the first Indian companies to introduce

    Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to manage its operations.

    It also has an online supply chain management system in operation.

    Presently there are five models of Royal Enfield bikes in the market

    viz.,

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    Thunderbird Bullet Machismo The 2004 Bullet Electra

    Bullet 350 Bullet 500

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    http://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=16&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=17&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=9&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=10&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=19&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=19&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=10&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=9&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=17&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=16&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=16&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=17&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=9&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=10&products_location=indiahttp://www.royalenfield.com/product.asp?products_id=19&products_location=india
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    4 SWOT AnalysisOpportunities

    o Introduction of bikes inentry and executive level

    segment

    o Encourage the sales with

    advertisement

    Threats

    o Movement of industrytowards premium

    segment e.g. Karizma

    225c.c, Aquila etc.

    o Entry of exclusive

    foreign players

    Strengths

    o No competition in 350c.c

    bikes

    o Proven product durability

    o Customer retention

    o Online supply chain

    management

    o ERP operated operations

    o Introduce customer

    relationship management

    o Entry of other players

    in 350 c.c segment

    Weaknesses

    o High Prices

    o Less Advertisement

    o No bike in entry and

    executive level segment

    o No/little product

    innovation

    o Lack of attractive finance

    schemes

    o Increasing awareness by

    advertisement

    o Innovating with styling of

    bikes

    o Offering better finance

    schemes

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    5 Market Environment

    In the last six years, the domestic two-wheeler industry has seen

    structural changes. The motorcycle industry has been growing largely

    at the expense of the scooter and moped segments. Scooters having

    bottomed out, and mopeds likely to do so soon, the motorcycle industry

    is bound to have a slower rate of growth - and this may lead to a price-

    war and pressure on volumes and growth of the high volume players.

    Growth will be fuelled by new introductions, tapping new segments and

    encouraging faster replacement / up-gradation through introduction of

    differentiated / customized offerings. For both motorcycle

    manufacturers and their suppliers, the risk would be of building/ adding

    huge capacities in anticipation of continued high growth rates. The

    motorcycles have consistently gained market share from the scooter

    and moped segments to corner a share of 41% of total two-wheeler

    sales. The table below gives an idea about the strides made by the

    motorcycle segment since 1993:

    The motorcycle market is broadly structured into economy/commuter

    bikes and power, style and leisure bikes. The economy segment of themarket comprises of entry level bikes and typically has the 100 cc

    motorcycles. The power, style and leisure segment comprises of bikes

    up to 180 cc. Royal Enfield is the only player in the 250 cc and above

    category and is positioned as the power and leisure bike manufacturer.

    Hero Honda is the leading player in the motorcycle market, with market

    share close to 48% followed by Bajaj Auto at 24%. Other players in the

    market are TVS motors, Yamaha Motors, LML and Kinetic Engineering.

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    (in %) Scooter Motorcycle Moped

    FY93 47.2 25.2 27.6

    FY94 47.5 26.7 25.8

    FY95 46.8 29.5 23.7

    FY96 46.0 30.4 23.6

    FY97 43.9 33.0 23.1

    FY98 41.5 37.2 21.3

    FY99 39.0 41.0 20.0

    FY2000 33.2 47.6 19.2

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    The Indian motorcycle industry can be broadly categorized in to Indian

    motorcycles and Indo-Japanese motorcycles. The Indo-Japanese

    motorcycle segment is dominated by Hero group, Bajaj and Escorts in

    collaboration with Japanese vehicle manufacturers Honda, Kawasaki

    and Yamaha respectively. The Indian motorcycles segment is

    dominated by Bajaj (M80), Escorts and Royal Enfield.

    In motorcycles sales, western region leads with a market share of 40%

    of the total motorcycle sales. South and north regions come second and

    third with a market share of 27.5% and 17.4% of total motorcycle

    sales respectively.

    Over the last couple of years since 2000-01, the motorcycle market has

    more than doubled to over 4.3 million units in 2003-04. The industry is

    expected to continue to grow in future also due to new products,

    availability of low cost finance and increase in replacement demand

    coupled with shift in customer preference to motorcycles over scooters.

    Different players with their offerings of bikes in different segments have

    been listed below:

    Company Entry LevelExecutive

    Level

    Premium

    Level

    Bajaj Auto CT100

    Caliber115Saffire

    Spirit

    Discover

    Pulsar150 DTSiPulsar180 DTSi

    Wind 125

    Eliminator

    Hero Honda CD-Dawn

    CD100Splendor

    Passion

    Ambition 135

    CBZ

    Karizma

    Honda Activa/Dio EternoUnicorn

    Kinetic Boss EX

    Boss 115Velocity

    GF170 Comet

    LML AdernoFreedom 110

    Freedom 125

    Royal Enfield

    --- ---

    Bullet 500Bullet 350ElectraMachismo

    ThunderbirdTVS Centra

    Max 100Star

    Fiero F2/FXVictor GLX

    Yamaha Yamaha Crux Enticer

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    6 Consumer Behavior

    It is very important for an organization to understand its consumers

    buying behavior. Only when a company understands its consumers, it

    can modify its offerings to ensure maximum consumer benefit.

    Somewhere decisions relating to all 4 Ps are taken keeping in mind the

    consumer preferences. Since today all companies are following

    marketing concept, all decision making activities surrounds consumers.

    To understand the consumer buying behavior, we undertook a market

    research to understand what people think about Royal Enfield as a

    brand and how much is their level of awareness with respect to brand.

    The objectives of the consumer behavior study are:

    Factors influencing the buying behavior of consumer

    The price-demand relationship analysis

    Consumer Loyalty towards the brand

    Consumer awareness of the brand

    The primary source of data is personal interviews and questionnaire of

    individual customers selected on the basis of relevance and judgment,

    given the academic nature and the duration of the study.

    The study was carried out in Gurgaon. The primary focus was on

    following parameters:

    Psychographic and Behavioral parameters

    Brand Awareness

    Comparative attributes

    Substitutability

    Brand Usage Pattern

    Brand Loyalty

    Following page comprises of the description of the survey sample andthe analysis of the consumer survey.

    6.1 Description of sample

    Sample size- 25

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    Occupation

    Students

    Service

    Business

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    Age Group

    35yrs

    Income Group

    100000-200000

    200001-300000300001-500000

    >500001

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    The personal details were very important. As they enabled us to

    analyze the consumer behavior on the basis of very important personal

    factors like age, occupation, and economic circumstances.

    6.2 Analysis of consumer survey

    The findings of the survey conducted are listed below:

    Which vehicle do you own and for how many years? Please specify

    the brand also.

    The purpose of this question is to find out the number of users of

    motorcycles and further which is the most popular brand among the

    customers. The answers are tabulated as following:

    Company Brand No. of users

    Hero Honda CBZ

    Karizma

    Splendor

    2

    1

    1

    Bajaj Auto Ltd. CT100

    Pulsar 180

    Caliber Croma

    Pulsar 150

    1

    1

    1

    2

    Royal Enfield Bullet 350 1

    TVS Fiero 1

    LML Energy 1

    Yamaha RXZ

    YBX

    2

    2

    Kinetic Challenger 1

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    For what purpose do you use bike?

    This was framed to find out what benefit do people buy bikes. Here

    we observed that 80% of the sample bought bikes for office/college

    purposes and about 10% used these for commercial purpose, rest

    being for occasional use.

    How do you come to know about new bikes and promotional

    schemes?

    The distribution of peoples response for this question is shown in

    the chart given below. This question confirmed that most of the

    awareness for brand comes from TV advertisements followed by

    word of mouth of friends and print media like auto specific

    magazines and general newspaper advertisement. This also

    confirmed the importance of advertisement for sales and

    awareness.

    Please rate the following factors you would consider before buying abike, according to your preference.

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    Print Media

    TV Advertisem ents

    Friends & Family

    Showroom dealers

    On road parking lots

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    The attributes the consumer bears in mind while considering the

    purchase of a motorcycle have been tabulated below. The sum of

    the scores given by the respondents (on a scale of 8) to a particular

    attribute was divided by the total number of respondents to reach

    an average score per attribute. Mileage seems to be the mostimportant attribute for the bike buyers. Appearance is vital to

    the acceptance of a product and it is not surprising to findthat it scores heavily among the respondents. Price followsappearance in the ranking and because a majority of buyers isfrom upper middle class and students, it has an importantfactor to ponder upon. Next in line is after sales servicefollowed by finance options and maintenance. SurprisinglyCOMFORT has been ranked quite low and resale value isranked last. This shows that the consumer assumes thepurchase for life time. But it is essential for any product to setup proper after sales service centers in reach for thecustomers.

    Attributes Average Score

    Mileage 7.2

    Looks 6.8

    Maintenance 4.5

    Comfort 1.4

    After sale Service 4.9

    Price 5.2

    Resale Value 0.7

    Finance Options 4.6

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    Which bank would you like to take financial loans from?

    Most of the responses were in favor of State Bank Of India which

    shows people have more faith in the govt owned banks than the

    private banks.

    Who/what would you consult before buying the bike?

    The response to this question has helped to understand the

    reference groups/influencers for the buying decision. Weve come

    to know that the family, friends and colleagues have influenced the

    decision of the buyer much.

    6.3 Buying Behaviour

    Difficult or uninteresting delegated tasks sometimes require from

    HIGH INVOLVEMENT LOW INVOLVEMENT

    SIGNIFICANT

    DIFFERENCE

    BETWEEN BRANDS

    COMPLEX BUYNIG

    BEHAVIOUR

    VARIETY SEEKING

    BUYING BEHAVIOUR

    FEW DIFFERENCES

    BETWEEN BRANDS

    DISSONANCE REDUCING

    BUYING BEHAVIOUR

    HABITUAL BUYING

    BEHAVIOUR

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    Family

    Friends

    Colleagues

    Magazines &

    Brochures

    Showrooms

    Internet

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    NUMBER OF PEOPLE CONSULTED

    60%25%

    15% THREE OR

    MORE

    TWO

    ONE

    Following is the distribution of people who consulted one or two or

    more than three different sources before taking the final decision to

    buy the bike:

    From the above data, we can infer that most of our sample consulted

    more than 3 people before making the final decision. This is clear

    indication that the consumer are very highly involved in the purchase of

    a bike, which is understandable considering that bike is an expensive

    and long term buy for most.

    Also, judging by the response we got, the brand image of a high end

    purchase like a motorcycle influences the buying behavior greatly, it is

    indicative of the kind of after- sales services that the consumer can

    expect. The kind of distribution network that Royal Enfield has in India

    has helped promote its brand image in a big way. Moreover, it is the

    market leader in premium segment bikes as well, which develops the

    customers interest in the purchase from Royal Enfield.

    Therefore with reference to the figures given above, we can conclude

    that the customers of bikes exhibit complex buying behavior.

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    7 Competitive Scenario

    7.1 Porters five forces

    Potential Entrants

    Strengths:

    Stable returns

    Access to distribution channels

    Industry growth rate

    High product differentiation

    Weakness:

    High buyers switching costs

    Incumbents defense of market

    share

    High capital requirements

    Suppliers

    Strengths:

    Cater to strong buyers

    Supplied product isimportant input

    Weakness:

    Many competitivesuppliers

    No credible threat ofdownstreamintegration

    Industry Competitors

    Strengths:

    High market growth rate

    Existing strong or aggressivecompetitors

    Strategic stakes are high

    Weakness:

    High level of productdifferentiation

    High switching costs for thebuyers

    Brand identification

    Buyers

    Strengths:

    Large number ofbuyers

    Buyers incentives

    Sources ofinformation

    Strong brandidentity

    Many substitutes

    Proportion ofincome spent onthe purchase

    Weakness:

    High Switching

    costs

    Fragmentedbuyers

    High productimportance

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    Substitutes

    Strengths:

    Technological advancement

    Many substitutes like scooters& A segment cars

    Weakness:

    Price differences

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    7.2 Factors influencing buying decision

    Its not easy to make a best choice in bikes. The specifications, style,

    power, price, riding comfort and ruggedness make all the difference in

    the buying behavior of customers. These factors interrelate in

    complicated ways to influence the buying decision Following are the

    major factors on the basis of which it is decided that which bike isbetter:

    Powertrain

    Fuel economy

    Mileage

    Style

    Price

    Top speed

    Features e.g. e-start option

    Engine

    Weight

    Riding comfort

    In the modern technology industry, competition among rival firms is

    generally constructive. Firms strive for a competitive advantage over

    their rivals, primarily by providing better products and support. A

    number of highly competitive brands in the market have been snapping

    at the heels of Goliaths like Bajaj Eliminator, Hero Honda Karizma and

    Kinetic Comet.

    7.3 Comparative Analysis in Motorcycle Industry

    Legend

    2 Highest

    1

    0 Lowest

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    Players--> BajajHeroHonda

    RoyalEnfield Kinetic

    Comparative Factors

    Mileage

    Looks

    Maintenance

    After sale service

    PriceEffective sales promotion

    Finance Options

    Performance

    Dealership system

    Spare Parts Availability

    Total 16 13 7 5

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    Comparative Analysis in Motorcycle Industry: Competitors of Royal Enfield

    bikes have been studied under various parameters and a comparison has been

    drawn for these in the above excel sheet.

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    8 Recommendations

    8.1 Entry into other segments

    As we can see from the data showing the growth trend of motorcycleshare in Indian Auto market, a clear indication of rising appetite of the

    Indian consumers for the motorcycle. Going by the demographics, it

    can be inferenced that an auto company has the scope of selling bikes

    in variety of segments. So it is highly recommended for Royal Enfield as

    a company to venture into other segments as well. But due diligence

    should be made on brand positioning of the new models, as consumers

    identify the Royal Enfield brand with the tough and sturdy Bullet

    product. This concern can be taken care of by launching a new product

    range under the umbrella of a new brand, specifically for light & sporty

    bikes Like: Reiko (110 c.c.), RE Steel/Falcon (150-180 c.c.), RE

    Classic/Sports (250-300 c.c.) etc.

    8.2 Aggressive marketing & Advertising for brandreinforcement

    This might come to the readers as a surprise that Royal Enfield has

    started marketing again after 21 years. The last advertisement they did

    was in 1983. Recently they have started advertising through television

    media etc. But they need to be aggressive in their marketing

    campaigns seeing the current market landscape in Indian Auto market.

    8.3 Rejuvenating dealership network

    It has been noticed during research that the dealers are not customer

    oriented and they have become complacent in this regard. This attitude

    was getting them business as Royal Enfield Bullet is a niche product

    where they didnt have any competition until now. But off late the

    scenario has been changing. The marketing is witnessing introduction

    more powerful and feature rich bikes with affordable tags. So thrust

    should be made to educate the dealers about the new threat which in

    reality is an opportunity as well for them. Also equipping them with

    knowledge and paraphernalia to run sales focused marketing

    campaigns.

    8.4 Product Innovation

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    This is one product which beat all the shelf life determination. The

    product has changed little since its introduction decades before. This

    has been advantageous to an extent, if we speak of Bullet alone. But in

    the wake of 21st century, the consumers who are so informed about

    the features esp. the ones who have really propelled the growth of

    motorcycle share in two wheelers; we can safely conclude that

    launching variants and new innovative models can definitely fuelgrowth. The company has introduced certain new models with

    convention gear structure i.e. left side gear paddles. Features like

    electric start, disc brakes are also underway, to be introduced in all

    models. These have been introduced in one model only as of now. Also

    through technical innovations in engines, they are trying to increase

    mileage & acceleration of the bikes, the features which are becoming

    instrumental in decision making of purchasing bikes.

    8.5 Financing schemes

    This is one company which is still to capitalize on the opening of thebanking sector. Their bikes still get up to maximum of 70% finance by

    most of the banks, which is an inhibiting factor for an average

    consumer, which was confirmed by our survey. We recommend a two

    pronged strategy for addressing the same.

    Diversifying into auto financing like Bajaj.

    Tie-ups with both private and public sector banks: Our survey

    showed that the potential consumers of Royal Enfield products are

    inclined towards public sector banks like SBI. And for the new

    light /sporty variants or models from Royal Enfield( if they plan to

    launch), a tie up with private banks would be beneficial due to their

    proven capability to woo the 21-30 yrs age group segment who are

    the primary drivers of the motorcycle sales growth esp. for the

    trendy bikes.

    Version: 1.014th December 2004 Page 21

    Authors, 2004

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    9 References

    The following references were used in the study and the author has

    tried to mention at relevant places about the same in the document.

    9.1 Textbooks

    Marketing management by Philip Kotler

    Advertising and consume behavior by Sutherland

    & Sylvester

    9.2 Web References

    www.bajajauto.com

    www.royalenfield.com

    www.eicher.com

    www.herohonda.com

    www.icicibank.com

    Apart from above, discussions with dealers of Royal Enfield based in

    Gurgaon (NCR) also formed an integral source of information for this

    report.