Royal Enfield Interceptor & Continental GT 650 a few months away: Siddhartha Lal

Royal Enfield is looking at bullish expansion of its business in foreign markets. Their much-awaited upcoming bikes – the Continental GT 650 and the Interceptor – will be first launched in the international markets before coming to India in a few month’s time. The motorcycle has been officially unveiled by the brand and can also be seen at many Australian Royal Enfield showrooms.

Siddhartha Lal, MD and CEO, Eicher Motors (parent company of Royal Enfield), said to MoneyControl,

“They (Continental GT and Interceptor) will come out soon, in the next few months. We are also waiting for them to come out; we are sorting out ramping up issues. It’s only a matter of a few months. The Interceptor 650 is a new product but the Continental GT 650 will replace the current Continental GT that we sell in India,” added Lal.

Royal Enfield is expected to launch the 650cc twin-cylinder bikes by July/August in the Indian market. The Australian and the UK markets are expected to get the bikes much earlier than that. Royal Enfield is also exploring setting up an assembly plant in South East Asia. Royal Enfield has received good response from the Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesian markets and setting up an assembly plant will enable the manufacturer to target a wider customer base.

The upcoming twin-cylinder powered Royal Enfield Continental GT and Interceptor are expected to push the Royal Enfield name in the foreign markets. Both the new bikes will be first launched in the international markets, something that the brand has done since the Royal Enfield Classic days.

The upcoming bikes will be powered by the same 647cc, four-stroke twin-cylinder engine with oil cooling. It generates a maximum of 47 Bhp and a peak torque of 52 Nm. The bikes will get a 6-speed manual transmission with a slipper clutch. Fuel injection and ABS are expected to be standard. It will be the first time that a Royal Enfield bike will get such features in the Indian market. Other features include telescopic front forks, gas charged twin rear shocks, steel wheels with spokes and tubed tyres.

Royal Enfield is expected to put a competitive price tag of Rs. 4 lakh on the bikes. This will enable the brand to attract a lot of customers who target the affordable Harley-Davidson bikes, like the Street 750. The Continental GT will be a little more expensive than the Interceptor in India.

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