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Royal Enfield will have the highest number of new models

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by Swaraj Baggonkar from https://www.moneycontrol.com Royal Enfield will have the highest number of launches this year: CEO Vinod Dasari This year, Royal Enfield is ready to introduce more models annually than ever before as the niche bike maker looks to further strengthen its iron grip on the middleweight motorcycle segment The Eicher Motors-controlled company that specialises in building bikes with engine sizes of 350cc to 650cc, currently, has its order backlog full. This can keep its factories running for the next 2-3 months without any new bookings. Speaking to analysts, Vinod Dasari, CEO, Royal Enfield, said: “We have a very exciting (product) pipeline. This year will probably see the highest number of new models that is ever seen from Royal Enfield in a year. And that is just the beginning of the pipeline.” Over the last few months, Royal Enfield launched the Meteor 350 and the new Himalayan, besides offering new colours on the 650 twins – Continental GT and Interceptor. Dasari did not provide details on the models that can be expected from Royal Enfield. “We will continue to have one new model every quarter. Because there is a delay due to COVID right now, I don’t think we will squeeze everything in but there are some very big models coming in. We are very excited about it. We will have to do all the marketing and market preparedness for that,” Dasari added. While sales of the 650 twins in India nearly halved to 10,256 units in FY21, largely due to COVID-19 disruption, Royal Enfield believes that there is space for more 650cc products. “Yes, there is a need to think about every platform. Not just the Twins, but Himalayan, Meteor and Classic. So we should think about every platform on how we can meet other kinds of customer […]

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Why shortages of a $1 chip sparked crisis in the global economy

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by Bloomberg from https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com The chip crunch was born out of an understandable miscalculation as the coronavirus pandemic hit last year. When Covid-19 began spreading from China to the rest of the world, many companies anticipated people would cut back as times got tough. To understand why the $450 billion semiconductor industry has lurched into crisis, a helpful place to start is a one-dollar part called a display driver. Hundreds of different kinds of chips make up the global silicon industry, with the flashiest ones from Qualcomm Inc. and Intel Corp. going for $100 apiece to more than $1,000. Those run powerful computers or the shiny smartphone in your pocket. A display driver is mundane by contrast: Its sole purpose is to convey basic instructions for illuminating the screen on your phone, monitor or navigation system. The trouble for the chip industry — and increasingly companies beyond tech, like automakers — is that there aren’t enough display drivers to go around. Firms that make them can’t keep up with surging demand so prices are spiking. That’s contributing to short supplies and increasing costs for liquid crystal display panels, essential components for making televisions and laptops, as well as cars, airplanes and high-end refrigerators. “It’s not like you can just make do. If you have everything else, but you don’t have a display driver, then you can’t build your product,” says Stacy Rasgon, who covers the semiconductor industry for Sanford C. Bernstein. Now the crunch in a handful of such seemingly insignificant parts — power management chips are also in short supply, for example — is cascading through the global economy. Automakers like Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG have already scaled back production, leading to estimates for more than $60 billion in lost revenue for the industry

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Car and Motorcycle Companies Now Making Electric Bikes

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by Roy Furchgott from https://www.nytimes.com They see branding opportunities as the pandemic and a desire by cities to curb traffic propel e-bike sales to new heights. The transportation industry has seen the future, and the future is 1895. That was the year Ogden Bolton Jr. of Canton, Ohio, was awarded U.S. Patent 552,271 for an “electrical bicycle.” A century and change later, electric bikes have gained new currency as car and motorcycle companies like Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Yamaha have horned into the market with their own designs. While the pandemic has accelerated bike sales, the overriding attraction is that cities worldwide are beginning to restrict motor traffic. These companies are betting that e-bikes are the urban vehicles of tomorrow — or at least vehicles for good publicity today. “In the past 12 to 18 months, you have seen a lot of new brands come into the market,” said Andrew Engelmann, an e-bike sales and marketing manager at Yamaha, which has been in the electric bike business since 1993 and claims sales of two million worldwide. “We in the U.S. have not seen this new energy toward cycling since Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France.” Credit the coronavirus pandemic, which has ignited bike sales of all stripes, but none so much as e-bikes. While retail unit sales of bicycles from January to October last year were up 46 percent from a year earlier, electric bikes were up 140 percent. Measured in dollars, regular bikes were up 67 percent and e-bikes 158 percent — so don’t expect a discount. Those numbers, from the market researchers at NPD, do not include online-only retailers such as Rad Power Bikes, so sales may actually be higher still. Ogden Bolton aside, there is a historical connection between bicycles and motorcycles. Many early

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Motorcycles and motor scooters in high demand as car sales tank in Alberta

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by Helen Pike from https://www.cbc.ca Instead of sitting at home when the pandemic shuttered Alberta’s economy, some hopped on the saddle of a motorbike and hit the streets. According to statistics provided by the Motorcycle & Moped Industry Council (MMIC), sales across the province started to climb in April and May and peaked mid-summer. Year to date motorcycle sales are up 16 per cent and motor scooter sales are up 14 per cent over last year’s figures. Meanwhile, new vehicle sales are down about 26 per cent compared with January to August 2019, according to Statistics Canada. David Grummett, director of communications, said MMIC believes there was a healthy mix of new riders, returning riders and existing riders with some with vacation money burning a hole in their pockets. “There were a lot of new riders,” Grummett said “[There were people coming] back to the sport in big numbers … there were just people that wanted a new bike and maybe they weren’t going on the cruise. So they had some extra disposable cash. That seemed to be a good place to put it.” Jen Brown hadn’t been on a bike for a decade. She had taken a course and always intended to have a motorcycle of her own, but life got in the way. Until the pandemic hit. Then she found herself with extra cash usually set aside for rec-sports leagues and camping trips. So, she got a second-hand beater and, on her first solo ride, met a community of people by chance, on her first ride to Bragg Creek. ‘Everybody stepped up’ “Quite honestly, it’s what kept me sane all summer long,” Brown said. “The group became more and more eclectic, And we all sort of supported each other and helped each other out.” After that, she was

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Harley-Davidson Leads the List in Peak Demand for Motorcycles

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by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com Like most other countries in the world, the UK is set to relax its distancing measures as of this week, despite the health crisis being more severe than ever. Among the distancing measures to be kept is the obligation for the Brits to wear face-coverings on all public transport means on the island. That decision seems to have scared people who would normally ride the tube or buses, and that is visible in the number of online searches for alternative means of transportation. Motorcycles and their derivatives seem to be in high demand these days, according to the figures provided by Auto Trader. The organization says that compared to the same period last year, sales of motorcycles and mopeds exploded, reaching 180 and 2019 percent, respectively. Keep in mind this happens as sales of cars are dropping to levels not seen since the 1970s. Online interest for such two-wheeled machines is at a peak as well, and the idea that this is not a passing trend is backed by other data as well: Brits are hell-bent on becoming motorcycle riders, and proof to that is the doubling of Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) riders must take before being allowed on the roads. “It seems to be part and parcel of getting into a ‘new normal’. They’re relatively cheaper options for commuting, they can help you get around easily in congested urban areas, and they’re easier to park in tight spots,” said in a statement Auto Trader’s Rory Reid. “They can also be a much more viable option than walking or cycling for the majority of people whose commute is longer than five miles.” As far as what type of motorcycles the Brits prefer, two Harley-Davidson families, the Sportster and Softail, are among the most sought after,

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No silver bullet in sight for Enfield hit by sliding volume

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The Eicher Motors stock fell 30 per cent in the past year. The Bullet, it appears, is just not firing on all cylinders at the moment. Royal Enfield (RE) sales are rather soft, and state-wise volume statistics furnished by industry body SIAM show that the bike that defines panache for motorcycle enthusiasts in India is riding through a rather rough patch. Eight states that make up three of every five RE bikes sold locally have reported deceleration. Maharashtra and Karnataka together account for 13 per cent of RE volumes, and these two states have seen a drop in 6-7 quarters of the past nine. Kerala, the largest market of RE, has witnessed volume drops of 13 per cent and 23 per cent in the September and December quarters, respectively. The September decline is attributed to floods. But declines in the December quarter have put the lens on underlying demand. Industry volume growth of twowheelers in south India was 9.5 per cent in the first nine months, up from 5.6 per cent in the previous year. However, RE’s sales volume growth in the Southern states has been underwhelming. The RE management has given production guidance of 8.7-8.8 lakh units for the current fiscal year. However, it is unlikely to be met. Average monthly run-rate of RE in the first 11months of FY19 stood at 69,569 units. To achieve the stated guidance, the company needs to produce 1.04 lakh vehicles in March. This appears to be quite a daunting task given the weak demand cycle. The Street is factoring in volume growth of 10 per cent for FY20, which could be trimmed due to about 3 per cent growth in FY19. The Eicher Motors stock fell 30 per cent in the past year following constant negative surprises on the volume front. The

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