Anupam Thareja, founder, Classic Legends, said the investment will be utilised towards tooling up new products, marketing, creating distribution networks for international markets, and new product development, among others.
“The whole idea is to build a global Indian motorcycle company,” Thareja told ET. The move will help the firm eliminate the losses incurred over the past three years and turn profitable in the current financial year, he said. Classic Legends had turned profitable in its first full year of operations in FY20 before plunging into losses amid business challenges.
Classic Legends is also working on a pure electric motorcycle for the UK, Europe and other mature markets. Developed ground-up with the University of Warwick, the model will go on sale from 2024. The company claims that it will be the most affordable e-motorcycle in its segment.
Royal Enfield is the leader of the Indian market for retro style, classic, middleweight motorcycles (over 250cc, priced upwards of ₹1.5 lakh). The segment comprises 800,000 of the 16-17 million units sold annually in the broader two-wheeler market. Thanks to the premiumisation trend and a promise of high return, the segment has emerged as a sweet spot for all Indian and global motorcycle makers.The latest investment by Classic Legends will be the first major outlay by the company since it started operations in 2018 with the re-launch of the iconic Czech brand, Jawa in India, followed by Yezdi. While Mahindra owns 60% of Classic Legends, Phi Capital (a private equity firm founded by Thareja) and Boman Irani, a real estate developer, hold the rest. The company sells a total of 4,500 to 5,000 Jawa and Yezdi motorcycles each month.”Starting from this month, going into the peak festive season, we expect annual volume run to reach around 100,000 units,” Thareja said, adding around 25-30% of the total production will be exported. Exports of BSA models (internal combustion engine powered) to the UK and Europe started from February this year while Jawa has already been launched in the Czech Republic. More export markets will be added for the two models in the coming months.