Chennai Floods to impact Royal Enfield delivery schedules

The recent floods in Chennai have wreaked grave losses on both, humans as well as industries.

Life has been affected everywhere and people are barely starting to pick up the pieces and get back to some sense of normalcy. The city happens to be a major auto-hub and also the home to the country’s most recognized lifestyle motorcycle brand – Royal Enfield. The heaviest rainfall in the century and the resulting floods have had a definitive impact on the auto-major’s revenues. Production losses alone have crossed over 11,000 motorcycles. 

The Chennai based motorcycle manufacturer has a loyal fan following, with buyers lining up outside the showrooms. Waiting periods are known to stretch on for months during regular production, with many fans complaining, but refusing to switch loyalties to other brands.  With both production plants at Thiruvottiyur and Oragadam remaining shut between the 1st and the 7th of December, this wait is only going to get longer.

Moreover, even after reopening the plants, the company is only operating at half their production capacity. This is due to the fact that workers are still coping up with the aftermath of the floods. Additionally, even the company’s local vendor base is facing similar issues, with parts supplies being held up and production continuing to be slow.

Sources at Royal Enfield are indicating that it could take up to a week or ten days before things get back to speed. The exact amount of losses are yet to be calculated, and shall happen only when production resumes at full-capacity. Meanwhile, fans are likely to see their waiting times increase to as much as three to four months, particularly for popular models like the Classic and the Thunderbird. Testing times indeed.