The number of Royal Enfield motorcycle fans in India has been increasing exponentially and it seems like the bikemaker is breaking records every month now. Recently the oldest global motorcycle brand in continuous production shared its sales tally for last month and the numbers are mind-bending. Royal Enfield revealed that the company registered a growth of 53 percent on a Year-On-Year basis. In the grand total of domestic sales and exports, the company dispatched a total of 70,112 units against 45,860 units in August 2021.
According to the Chennai-based automaker, In August 2022, the company sold 62,236 units just in the domestic market alone, up from 38,572 units in August 2021. This cemented a 61 percent increase. However, the exports only had an 8.1% rise from 7,288 units in August 2021 to 7,876 units in August 2022. Meanwhile, the company also reported a 47% increase in numbers from last year for the year-to-date (April-August) sales performance in FY2022-23. Domestic sales and exports both increased over the prior fiscal year by 45% and 57%, respectively.
In terms of sales, B Govindarajan, CEO of Royal Enfield, stated that the Hunter 350 has gotten an unparalleled reaction since its debut. He also stated that the new motorbike would be available for purchase in a number of international countries in the coming months.
Earlier last month Royal Enfield launched the Hunter 350 roadster motorcycle, with prices starting from Rs. 1.5 lakh, ex-showroom making the bike the most affordable offering in the retro-modern motorcycle brand’s range. The Hunter 350 is about Rs. 4,500 cheaper than the Bullet 350. Bookings for the new motorcycle are open at all Royal Enfield dealerships across India.
The Hunter 350 is available in 3 variants – Retro Factory, Metro Dapper and Metro Rebel. While the Retro Factory trim is priced at Rs. 149,900, the Metro Dapper and Metro Rebel are priced at Rs. 163,900 and Rs. 168,900 respectively. All variants of the Royal Enfield Hunter 350 use a 350cc, single-cylinder air-cooled four-stroke engine borrowed from the Meteor 350. This motor puts out 20.1 Bhp and 28 Nm of torque and runs a single overhead camshaft. Equipped with a balancer shaft, this motor is one of the smoothest single-cylinder engines in Royal Enfield’s range, and is expected to soon become the mainstay of the brand’s affordable motorcycles.
A five-speed manual transmission is standard. The top speed is 114 Kph, and the kerb weight for the lightest Retro trim is 181 kg. Furthermore, the ground clearance is a reasonable 150 mm, and the short wheelbase of 1,370 mm should ensure that there are no concerns with the ground clearance in the real world. The seat height is a manageable 800 mm.
The Hunter 350’s pricier variants come standard with disc brakes on both wheels and twin-channel ABS, however, the Retro Factory trim comes with a disc brake only on the front wheel and single-channel ABS. The frame is inherited from the Meteor, but the wheels on the Metro grades are 17-inch alloy versions. The Retro variant comes with 17-inch spoked wheels wrapped in tube-type tyres. The 17-inch wheel size provides Hunter 350 customers with a wide range of tyre options.