Chennai, Feb 5 (IANS) While increasing its focus on export markets and plotting strategy for brand-building and distribution base, Eicher Motors Ltd would continue to build and defend thes domestic market share of its Royal Enfield motorbikes, a top company official said on Friday.
“All the work to grow and defend the market in India is being done while export is a 5-10 year opportunity,” Siddhartha Lal, managing director and CEO told reporters in a conference call after announcing the company’s fourth-quarter results.
Declining to reveal any numbers on brand spend overseas, Lal said the spending will not be much and the focus will not be lost on the domestic market where overseas competition is entering in the super bike segment.
He said the waiting time for the bikes have come down to three months now and steps are being taken to ramp up the production capacity.
Lal said the company will be doubling its production capacity to around 900,000 units per annum by 2018 with a new plant in Tamil Nadu.
He said the company will open an outlet in Thai capital Bangkok and it is also drawing out plans to enter the Brazilian market.
Indonesia and Thailand are big two-wheeler markets offering good potential to upgrade to next level of motor bikes.
Meanwhile, Eicher Motors closed its fourth quarter ending on December 31, 2015 with a net profit of Rs.245 crore as against Rs.124 crore posted during the corresponding quarter of 2014.
Following the calendar year as its financial year, Eicher Motors has decided to extend the financial year further till March 31 so that the next financial year will start on April 1 in line with the Companies Act.