My good friend and great forum poster Mr. Singh wrote a nice and accurate piece about the history of the Bullet in India. This side of the story is often times overlooked. The turtle analogy is apt as well. I have intimate knowledge of the thinking etc. at REM since 1999. Before that I only know what I read or what my older friends at the factory tell me. Since I have been involved RE has always realized that they will succeed if they stick to their knitting (so to speak). They cannot and will not compete in the mass market. Especially in India that would be suicide given the nature of the small cc MASS market for great little commuter bikes.
They don't make bigger bikes for one reason and one reason only - fear that they would not sell in their biggest (by far) market - India. That paradigm has changed bit by bit. A great example is the C5. It was designed to be an export only bike because of its cost. The perception at the factory was that no one in India would pay that price. After a short while there was a clamor from the Indian market for the bike. Put this in context by realizing how much money has been flowing into India. Just in the 10-12 years I have been going there the economic upheaval is overwhelming. Once they put the bike into the Indian market they were overwhelmed with orders. Took us by surprise.
The lesson is that the market is growing. At present they have a cult like following much like Harley had/has in this country. They are a very small player in India in contrast to most other Indian manufacturers but they are a very viable player. They have been courted by every major world manufacturer as an entre' into India and they have rebuffed them all. The thinking has been that none of them (Harley included) brings anything to the table for us except money. They are very proud of the brand and its Indian heritage and it is not all about money. Money is important as is making a profit, but making India proud is also a big factor. The ownership of this company has a lot of nationalistic pride and it has served Royal Enfield well.
We will NEVER be the flashiest, fastest etc. much like the turtle, but we will survive and put out very cool bikes for a long time to come. I have seen what is on the drawing boards and we all have a lot of fun things to look forward to from RE,.