FEATURE – Vimal Sumbly interview
Words: Phil Suriano
Photos: Royal Enfield
At the recent Australian Motorcycle Festival in Wollongong, JUST BIKES had the opportunity to chat with Royal Enfield’s Vimal Sumbly.
Head of Asia-Pacific for the Indian motorcycle brand, Sumbly came to Royal Enfield in September, 2018, from the role of Managing Director of Triumph Motorcycles in India. As well as Triumph, Sumbly has experience with Kawasaki, KTM and native brand Bajaj: part of a resume in the Indian motorcycle industry that covers almost 22 years.
While he is in a senior management role with Royal Enfield, Sumbly holds a degree in mechanical engineering, so understands the nuts and bolts of motorcycles, too.
In a detailed interview with JUST BIKES’ Phil Suriano, Sumbly offered some interesting insights into Royal Enfield’s history and its success in the Australian market over the past few years, as well as a few hints of what might be coming in the future.
(NOTE: interview was conducted on 9 November, 2019)
PHIL SURIANO: A little over 12 months ago, you came to Royal Enfield as Head of Asia Pacific. What was it about the Royal Enfield role that made you decide to take it up?
VIMAL SUMBLY: The reason I joined Royal Enfield was the passion I have for motorcycling. And I really, really liked the idea of the CEO of Royal Enfield – he said he wants to make Royal Enfield a big global brand. There’s lots that’s going to happen with Royal Enfield. So, it was equally exciting and challenging. It’s a start-up, in a way.
What I like about the brand is it’s very authentic and their objective is to get more people riding. It’s been a fantastic journey.
PS: Describe to us the importance of Royal Enfield in the Indian motorcycle market and how the brand is perceived there today.
VS: Royal Enfield is still known as a British brand, but it has now got an Indian soul – that’s what people will generally tell you. There’s a lot of passion for Royal Enfield in India, people love it there.
India is the second largest two-wheel market in the world, but even with millions of motorcycles on the road, you stand out on a Royal Enfield. Even the sound is recognisable - saying the Royal Enfield has arrived!
PS: Your initial goal with Royal Enfield was to expand the company’s business in the Asia Pacific (A-PAC) region. Do you feel that goal’s been achieved yet or is there still work to do?
VS: We’ve doubled our volumes in the last six months in A-Pac, thanks to great products. We have modern twins, the Himalayan, Euro 4 (emissions rating), clubbed with the dealer network expansion.
Previously, people were not buying into the brand because they didn’t have many service points. For example, in Thailand, we were operating out of one dealership. By the end of March, 2020, we’ll have 15 dealerships. Similarly, from one to six in Indonesia. It was only three years back we started selling in those countries, and in those first three years, you’ve got to establish and understand what the customer needs.
Now, we are seeing a great following in each market. As an example, we started café racing nights in Bangkok - like it used to be in the 1960s in the UK. People said, ‘You’re crazy. No-one rides in Bangkok at night’. Almost four months back, we started with just five riders arriving. Last week we had 105 riders. It’s a culture thing there now. And now we’re trying it in Australia.
PS: Most Aussie motorcyclists would feel Royal Enfield has a strong profile here. How do you rate the acceptance and success of Royal Enfield in Australia?
VS: For Royal Enfield this year, and if I look at the next two to three years, Australia will be among the top five markets within A-Pac. . . .
PS: In recognition? Volume?
VS: First comes from brand awareness – Royal Enfield is very high on brand awareness here. Second is essence - people’s connectivity with the brand. And third is, of course, volume.
Joseph (Elasmar of Royal Enfield importers, UMI) said we have 5,000 customers in Australia. 5,000 in four or five years. That’s a great base.
PS: At the 2018 Moto Expo Melbourne, you indicated that Royal Enfield was close to achieving 1,000 sales in Australia for that year. Did you hit the 1,000 mark?
VS: We got it. We’re always pessimistic in getting our numbers, but we got it! (laughs)
PS: What are you looking at achieving this year? (NOTE: interview was conducted on 9 November, 2019)
VS: To be honest, it’s not about growth now. What we really want to do in Australia is be part of the Australian motorcycling community. We sell 820,000 motorcycles globally, but what we want to do in Australia is bring more riders together and build that culture of riding to the pub together, coffee shops together. I think we’ll do that.
PS: What’s been the most successful model for Royal Enfield in the Australian market?
VS: By volume, the Classic would stand out, but the reason is because they came early. What I can say about the twins is we sold 500 of them in just six months. By the end of the year, I won’t be surprised if it crosses 1,000 sales.
PS: What’s been the mix of Interceptor to Continental GT sales?
VS: If you sell ten bikes, it’s seven of the Interceptor and three of the GT. That’s typical of France, Germany. Everywhere in the world, you see the same, really.
The best thing we brought to the industry through the twins though was the three-year warranty and three-year roadside assistance.
PS: Does Royal Enfield’s Australian dealer network need to expand, or is local demand being met by the current dealers?
VS: There’s a lot of ups and downs, in the sense that we are restructuring our network, (but) by the end of this year, we’ll have 32 dealers. What you will see as a change is that you’ll (always) find a Royal Enfield motorcycle available to test ride. It won’t be stuck somewhere in a corner.
So, 32 such points by the end of the year where you can really experience a Royal Enfield. You will be able to see for yourself, you’ll be able to experience the product, and you’ll be able to get that service that Royal Enfield promises. That’s what our objective is.
PS: Is there anything about the Australian market that makes it unique amongst other A-PAC countries? And is there a “typical” Royal Enfield buyer in Australia?
VS: What I find in Australia is that people know what they’re buying. There are some markets where people buy on specs only and then, when they get onto the bike, they say they probably made the wrong decision, so don’t ride it. But in Australia, they know what they’re buying into. Therefore, you see the usage of the motorcycle is really good - when people come to a service centre after 10,000 miles, that means they’re riding. That’s the difference here - people buy our motorcycles to ride. They don’t buy our motorcycles to park!
PS: The change with Royal Enfield in the past few years seems to have been twofold – the rapid introduction of new models and the modernisation of the existing range. In your opinion, what has been the most important change in the bikes themselves in the past 2 to 3 years?
VS: I would say the largest change by far has been to bring a parallel twin into production. Bringing them in has made a big, big impact, not only in India, but globally. If you look at Europe, it’s been outselling our numbers. Look at America, it’s been doing extremely well. And if you look at Australia, it’s done well, too.
And the second is the Himalayan because it has changed the way people look at adventure motorcycles.
PS: Even before the 650 twins were launched, there was talk of Royal Enfield expanding into larger capacity machines. Are there 1,000cc and larger bikes coming in the future?
VS: Our focus is to stay within 250cc and 750cc. There’s a large opportunity here and we think that, altogether, the world is looking for this segment. Royal Enfield was a leader in this segment, and now, look at every brand, when you’re talking about cc, they want to make smaller bikes.
PS: So, are you ruling a 1,000cc out?
VS: I don’t think it’s a priority right now.
PS: In terms of market segments, where do you see the greatest potential for Royal Enfield to expand globally in the next 5 to 10 years?
VS: As a brand, we really, really want to focus on the midsize-segment. That’s a clear focus.
We know, broadly, there are four or five forms of motorcycling – cruiser, classic, roadster, touring, adventure. Today, classic and adventure seems to be the right fit and we’ll develop on these platforms going forward.
All I can tell you is, there’ll be a lot of action you’ll see from Royal Enfield. (laughs)
PS: The ‘KX’ concept from 2018 was something special. Will more concepts like this be coming from Royal Enfield in the future?
VS: KX was one of the ways to show what Royal Enfield can do. As a brand, you always want to show what you can do. Today (gestures to Busted Knuckles Build Off bikes) we can see five models, based on simple twins, that can be turned into many forms.
The KX was one of those indications – to showcase what we can stretch to, where we can go, that we’ve got a vision.
PS: Will some of the ideas on the ‘Gallinella’ and ‘Twin FT’ customs presented at EICMA make it on to future Royal Enfield production models?
VS: We really think the Himalayan has the potential to get into flat track racing. You have to develop a product like that, of course, through customisation.
PS: Flat track racing for the Himalayan?
VS: Yeah. We’re thinking about doing something with that.
PS: Most major motorcycle manufacturers are either developing or on the verge of introducing an electric road bike. Where are Royal Enfield at in terms of electrification?
VS: As the laws and legislation shift, we’ll shift, too. There will be a focus on it at the right time, but not now.
PS: With all this expansion and looking ahead, how important is it to retain the identity and heritage of Royal Enfield with models like the Classic and Bullet? Will these two remain part of Royal Enfield for the foreseeable future?
VS: Of course. Will these models stay in the same form and shape? Only time will tell, but they will be part of the Royal Enfield range for the foreseeable future, for sure. They’ll be there, because they’re our heritage. It’s like going to Triumph and saying, ‘Will you have a Bonneville in the future?’
Thanks to Royal Enfield and Urban Moto Imports for assistance with this article https://royalenfield.com.au/
