Chennai based Royal Enfield Motorcycle resumed its operation at its two plants in Chennai on 8 December (Tuesday). The company had closed both its plants on 1 December due to the heavy rains and floods in Chennai. Till 6 December, the company had lost production of 7,200 motorcycles and in November alone, the loss was estimated at around 4,000 motorcycles.

"Due to a high rate of absenteeism by employees and issues with our local suppliers, the plants will be running at approximately 50 percent capacity this week. Royal Enfield expects to be back at 100 percent capacity by next week," said the company spokesperson.

The company in a previous statement said that "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."

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 rain will also affect the monthly sales in December as the production was nil for the first six days.

The temporary suspension of the production and 50% production this week will result in extended waiting period for the Royal Enfield motorcycles. The products such as the Classic range already commands a waiting period of over 6 months in many cities.

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