Fast growing Indian motorcycle manufacturer Royal Enfield has closed a circle that started with the brand's origins in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century by making its first corporate acquisition a British one - the company has bought UK based chassis, parts and race bike specialist Harris Performance.
Involving an undisclosed sum, the deal will see Royal Enfield take over all of the assets, employees, trade names, technical know-how and intellectual property of the Hertfordshire, England based specialist.
Founded over 40 years ago by Steve and Lester Harris and Stephen Bayford, alongside its well established race bike credentials Harris has an international reputation as a leading designer and manufacturer of parts and components. Harris has had a long standing relationship with Royal Enfield, which includes having been responsible for the chassis development of the recently introduced and acclaimed 535cc Continental GT cafe racer.
 |
| The well received 535cc Continental GT cafe racer is the most recent result of the long-term collaboration between Harris Performance and Royal Enfield |
Under the leadership of Siddharta Lal, Royal Enfield has made no secret that it is ambitious; very ambitious. With the backing of their equally fast growing parent company Eicher Motors, Royal Enfield has made no secret of plans to develop a new generation of products and platforms, including two new engines.
 |
| Steve Harris, left, with Royal Enfield/Eicher Motors CEO Siddhartha Lal |
In August last year it signalled its ambitions in the North American market with the hiring of former Harley-Davidson Head of Global Sales and Customer Service Rod Copes.
This news was followed late last year by the hiring of former Ducati designer Pierre Terblanche after he'd had spells at Piaggio/Moto Guzzi, Norton and Confederate Motorcycles in the United States.
In February the Chennai based manufacturer announced that it intended to establish a research centre in the UK, thought to be in Leicestershire - coincidentally the same part of the UK where Triumph and Norton are headquartered.
The company has experienced 50 percent growth in unit production in each of the last three years. For its 2014 Fiscal year production topped 300,000 units for the first time, having been around 178,000 in 2013 - indeed nearly 84,000 of last year's production was achieved in the final/fourth quarter. CEO Siddhartha is on record as targeting production of 450,000 units in 2016.
 |
| Siddharta Lal |
Speaking at the contract signing in the UK he said that "to have the Harris Performance team dedicatedly working with us will clearly enhance our engineering and product design capabilities.
"Their proven expertise, deep insight and understanding of motorcycling and Royal Enfield will be invaluable for us in our journey towards achieving leadership in the global mid-sized motorcycling segment".
IDN's Robin Bradley spoke with Steve Harris about the deal, who said: "It has all come about very quickly, so there are still details to be established.” Asked about future collaborations with other manufacturers (such as Yamaha and Suzuki), Harris (for whom Harris Performance has worked on the development of MotoGP and WSBK bikes) said that the deal with Royal Enfield doesn't prohibit it.
However, "with what is already going on at the present time, with the work that has already been ongoing for Royal Enfield and the new projects that will now also be coming our way, I would think that it would be simply a time issue rather than anything. I can't see us being in a position to undertake any other work for anyone else for some time".
The same would appear to apply to continuity of their parts and accessory manufacturing and sales activities. "We don't want to let anyone down. At present the plan is to continue all our existing activities alongside the work we'll be doing for Royal Enfield".
Asked about the prospects of being able to collaborate with Terblanche, Harris said that "he is very talented and yes, I think it will be very exciting for our team to work with him. I'm sure there are going to be some exciting opportunities and some great bikes".
At this stage it is anticipated that Harris Performance will remain at its 15,000 sq ft Hertfordshire, England facility and that the 11 strong work force will integrate into the operations planned for the new development centres elsewhere in England and in India on a remote basis.
Royal Enfield owner Eicher Motors has a number of strategic alliances and collaborations in the transport industry, including a 50/50 new factory joint venture in India with Polaris Industries - owners of Victory and Indian motorcycles.
www.royalenfield.com
www.harrisperformance.com
www.eicher.in
