An Indian brand is looking to take advantage of the sales rebound with a new model assembled in the country

After a first semester with falls of 12%, the The motorcycle sector rebounded in July and August and brands are betting on the last quarter of the year with new launches.

Among the most anticipated models is the Himalayan 450 de Royal Enfield which was presented this Wednesday in Mendoza. The brand, born in England and based in India, is a world leader in the medium-weight motorcycle segment (250 cc – 750 cc).

The new model is located within a new category in the adventure tourism niche It is produced in India and assembled in Argentina, in a plant in Pilar.

“The previous Himalayan, the 411, has been our best seller in Argentina and has evolved with this new 450 model,” said Amaury Layolle, Latam business manager for Royal Enfield.

He explained that it is a launch for all of Latin America, where Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia are the main markets for the Indian brand in the region.

Since 2020, the brand has been assembling in the Simpa factory in Pilar where 13% of components are local, with metal parts, electrical parts and filters. The other two assembly plants are in Brazil and Colombia.

Martín Schwartz, director of the Simpa Group, spoke about the expectations with Himalayan 450: “We expect to sell between 250 and 300 motorcycles of this model per month. and be one of the three best-selling motorcycles in the medium displacement segment.”

And he said that to assemble this model they are incorporating 15 people to the plant in Pilar, where 60 people work. The entire Simpa group has 400 employees.

“This motorcycle is tailor-made with the new Sherpa 450, water-cooled engine (previously it was air-cooled) and a dual-pass radiator setup for optimal cooling, which is crucial when riding on technical terrain at high altitude,” described the executive of the motorcycle factory that represents 15 brands and produces 8 in Argentina, in Campana and Pilar.

The Himalayan 450 has a new six-speed gearbox and inverted fork front suspension for better road handling and lighter clutch action.

It is the best-selling model in Mendoza and San Juan. “The Andes mountain range and its plains are one of the ideal landscapes to test it,” said Colombian Layolle.

The motorcycle market has surpassed the sale of 0 km vehicles in the last 4 years. In the accumulated total of the first 7 months of the year, 244 thousand motorcycles were registered, 12% less than in the same period of 2023. “2024 was quite slow, and it recovered in July and August, with growth of 25% compared to the same month last year. We are still 7% below 2023,” said Schwartz.

From January to August, there were 226 thousand registrations in the car market, 19% less than last year, according to data from Acara.

The profile of the buyer of motorcycles in this segment in Argentina, according to the Simpa group, is the recreational client, who looks for it as second mobility option in the house and grows in the age group 30 to 40 years.

Reservations are now open and there is a waiting list around 30 days. “We have 250 motorcycles for the launch and next year we want to sell between 250 and 300 motorcycles per month,” said the executive.

The price at which they will go into competition is $7,500; in the Tubeless version, it rises to $7,799, with bank financing.