India To Japan
What do India and Japan have in common? The food isn’t very similar, but at least starting now we can state as a matter of fact that both countries have Royal Enfield stores. As of this week, the Chennai-based motorcycle manufacturer has extended its complex roots system to the far reaches of Japan; land of the big-boy OEMs.
Right now, Royal Enfield is the largest motorcycle manufacturer on the planet, and the parade has made its final stop in Japan, where the company has decided to set-up shop with the addition of its first Japanese showroom. RE’s Japanese operations will be handled by PCI Co. Ltd.
With Yamaha and Honda dominating the Japanese middleweight market with their new 300cc-range motorcycles, Royal Enfield looks to step into the ring with their own successful line of mid-size bikes. The Himalayan, Continental GT and Interceptor 650, Bullet and Classic 500 will be the five models that RE plans on throwing into the proverbial Japanese hot pot.
In addition to the actual motorcycles, this (as well as the upcoming) store will contain the entire RE clothing and accessory line.
A big benefit of this new store is that Japanese RE riders will now have a place to bring their motorcycles for upkeep and maintenance moving forwards. Although this is the first stepping-stone into a RE-dominated Japanese future, we look forwards to the Indian OEM’s expansion.
We’ve had this in Bangkok for 2-3 years now as well. Too bad parts take about that long to arrive should something fail…