Royal Enfield is investing in two overseas facilties. The company said a plant in Thailand will be operational next year, while the Brazil unit will come up in 2022.

The company is banking on launches to revive sales which fell 7 per cent in October compared with a year ago. Enfiled will roll out the much awaited Meteor 350 on November 6 to replace the Thunderbird 350.

Talking to the media on the eve of the launch, Siddhartha Lal, managing director, Eicher Motors, of which Royal Enfield is a subsidiary, said: “We have created and grown the mid-size segment. We are focused on our ambition of playing a global role and becoming a premium consumer brand from India.”

The company, which will step into its 120th year in 2021, “remains a strong profitable business that helped it navigate these challenging times”.

“We have a strong balance sheet and we continue to spend cash and have the ability to look forward,” said Lal.

When asked about investments, Vinod K Dasari, CEO of Royal Enfield, said: “We continue with our investment plans and we are investing heavily on products, on network expansion both in India and export markets and on the CKD (complete knocked down) plants that we plan to set up.”

While its exports too dipped to 9 per cent in October 2020 as compared to same period last year, the company remains bullish about its international operations.

“The Continental GT and the Interceptor 350 are top in terms of registration in UK,” said Lalit Malik, COO of Royal Enfield.

The company has a tech centre in Leicestershire. In Thailand, the company has a market share of six per cent having sold 3450 units in 2019. In Brazil it has a 1.1 per cent market share having sold 1445 units in 2019.

In both these countries, the company will set up CKD plants. It already has one running in Argentina which it set up last year where it has a market share of 2.4 per cent. The company also exports to France, Germany, Korea, USA, Columbia.