The sleek and suave Royal Enfield motorcycle, first produced in the United Kingdom in 1901, had been riding slow only a decade ago until Siddhartha Lal applied his magic touch which helped the company to speedily roar uphill.
Siddhartha Lal was born in Delhi in 1973 and graduated in economics from St Stephen's College, Delhi. In 1997, he obtained a postgraduate engineering diploma from Cranfield University, and a Masters degree in automotive engineering at the University of Leeds.
Prior to Lal's term as the Royal Enfield Boss, there had been a slow growth in sale. In 2007, Royal Enfield sold 32,000 units, however, after Lal took over, the company's luck, as well as the share price of its parent company Eicher Motors flourish. It has now been touted that Royal Enfield are expected to sell 800,000 motorcycles in India. Now the company plans to return to its roots in the UK by opening a new R&D facility in Leicestershire, while they enthusiastically plan to expand internationally as well.
Lal recalls the early struggles of attempting to revive the brand. “It was still a very fragile brand in 2007. Selling every motorcycle was a struggle. Convincing dealers to spend time and energy, going to suppliers; they'd treat us like... well, not so well. Let's put it that way.”
Eicher Motors Group was founded by Siddhartha Lal's father Vikram Lal, and he took over as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 2004. He had joined Eicher Group in 1999 and became CEO of Royal Enfield in 2000. Out of the company's 15 brands, they sold off 13 and kept the Royal Enfield and truck manufacturer Eicher as he believed that these two could go on to prosper. Lal said, “Our ambition was to sell 100,000 units [per year]. Then the virtuous cycle starts; dealers start making a bit more money, suppliers start paying more attention. That 100,000 units didn't come until 2012. But this year, we'll sell than 800,000. That was absolutely inconceivable. I thought we'd be a stable company, but not as big a sensation as we are in India now.”
