The heavy downpour in Chennai has derailed the production and supply of the Royal Enfield motorcycles and its offices in the city have been closed temporarily. The motorcycle manufacturer who has two plants in Chennai for bike production for the domestic and international markets said the plants in Thiruvottiyur and Oragadam have been shut from 1 December.
"The unprecedented rainfall in Chennai has severely affected the city, including our employees, our manufacturing facilities and offices. The floods caused by the rain have also impacted logistics and our supply-chain, resulting in disruption of our production," a Royal Enfield spokesperson said in a statement.
Due to the rains, the company had in November lost production of 4,000 motorcycles reports the Economic Times. The company registered a 48% jump in sales in November 2015 with 40,769 units against the 27,542 units sold in the same month last year. However, when compared to the 44,522 units sales in October 2015, the production has come down because of the rains in the last month.
The suspension of the production is expected to result in extended waiting period for the Royal Enfield motorcycles. The products such as the Classic range already commands an over 6 months waiting period in many cities.
