UM Motorcycles plans Pune plant
The company, which will be competing with Royal Enfield, has so far invested around Rs 100 crore in the venture with plans to invest another Rs 100 crore.
US-based UM Motorcycles is expecting its Uttarakhand plant to reach full capacity of 5,000 units per month in over a year and has lined up plans to set up its second plant, possibly near Pune, the company officials said on Wednesday.
The company, which will be competing with Royal Enfield, has so far invested around Rs 100 crore in the venture with plans to invest another Rs 100 crore.
At present, manufacturing is carried out at the Lohia Auto's Kashipur facility in Uttarakhand. "After three years of efforts to bring the product out, we are now in the massive production phase," said Juan Villegas, global business head, UM Motorcycles.
"We hope to reach the capacity of 5,000 units per month in a year-and-a-half. We expect the demand to reach around 8,000 units per month in two years. So we are working on setting a plant in the southern or western region of the country, may be in Pune," he said.
When asked about the delays in deliveries of the bikes to the customers, the company officials said it was due to the production delays in the past two months. "We apologise for the delays and have been in touch with the customers explaining them the reason being the delays. However, the cancellations have been minimal." Villegas said. According to the officials, there hav been around 40 order cancellations out of the nearly 4,000 booked bikes since its launch earlier this year.
UM's main competitor Royal Enfield saw a growth of 32% in August this year over the corresponding period last year as it sold 55,721 units in the month.
When asked, how does it plan to compete, considering the fact that there is a lack of brand value for the product in India, Villegas said, "In the first phase, we will be targeting the metros and other Tier I cities. This will build the enthusiasm for the product and later on we will take it to Tier II and other cities."
Like the other cruise bike companies, UM also has plans to start a riders' club in October. It has been christened as ROBS, the officials said.