Royal Enfield is witnessing a shakedown in its top management, after Chief Executive Officer Vinod Dasari stepped down from his position in August 2021. The company’s COO B. Govindrajan has been appointed Executive Director to lead the company, and replace Dasari. Now, according to the latest reports, the company will likely see a fresh round of exits from its senior management. According to reports, Lalit Malik, the Chief Commercial Officer of Royal Enfield has already put in his papers, and Shubhranshu Singh, Global Head of Marketing is already serving his notice period.
The resignations and shakedown in Royal Enfield’s senior management comes at a crucial time when the brand is expanding in overseas markets, to grab a leadership position in the mid-size motorcycle segment. With the launch of the Royal Enfield 650 Twins three years ago, Royal Enfield has been on the product offensive and has recently launched the all-new Classic 350, built around an all-new platform with the J-Series engine also shared with the Meteor 350. The shakedown in the top management couldn’t have come at a worse time, when multiple new products are being planned, with Royal Enfield planning to introduce a new product every quarter.
In fact, other reports suggest that Royal Enfield has let go of nearly 100 employees as part of its annual performance review. The measures are being described as “right-sizing” the workforce as part of the brand’s Project Restore initiative. The initiative intends to attain a 25 percent operating margin for the brand, and average sales volumes of 50,000 units a month. In August 2021, Royal Enfield reported a 9 percent decline in monthly sales, with domestic sales slipping by 18 percent. The only silver lining is the 164 percent jump in exports, but overseas sales volumes are a meagre 6,790 units in August 2021, compared to domestic sales volumes of 39,070 units in the same month.
The coming months will be critical for Royal Enfield, as the brand struggles to find replacements for its senior management, and at the same time, go forward with its new product offensive, as well as stabilize sales volumes.