New Royal Enfield Himalayan – Not What You Think! » MotorOctane

Royal Enfield has always been popular in India for its retro offerings like the Classic 350, Bullet 350 and the Hunter 350, and most of its chunk of sales comes from these motorcycles. However, over the years, RE tried out a new segment – Adventure motorcycles, with the Himalayan 411, and it was quite a successful move from Royal Enfield. And now, we have the Himalayan 450, loaded with features and offering impressive performance. We also have the upcoming Himalayan 750 and the Himalayan electric. But today, we have news that there is another Himalayan coming, and we are trying to understand why! So, here’s more about this new Himalayan. 
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New Royal Enfield Himalayan 440 Confirmed!

The Himalayan 450 is one of the best products RE has to offer, and with the ever-increasing demand for ADVs, the Himalayan is a great prospect. However, it is on the expensive side of things, and RE currently does not have a cheaper alternative to the Himalayan 450 other than the Scram 440. However, Scram 440 does not match the capability of what the Himalayan nameplate defines. That said, Autocar India has just revealed that a new Himalayan 440 is in the works, which essentially is the older Himalayan with a bigger engine and a few more changes. They believe that the Himalayan 440 will be a more affordable offering, which could potentially match the off-road capabilities of the Himalayan 450, excluding the performance and features.

Codenamed D4G, the Himalayan 440 will be more accessible in terms of ease of riding, performance and ergonomics. It will carry the same design language as the first Himalayan 411 with a few cosmetic changes and colours. Most features like switchable ABS, tripper navigation pod and a few more would likely be borrowed from the Scram 440. What will also be borrowed is the updated 443cc engine producing 25.4bhp and 34Nm of torque, along with a 6-speed gearbox. It could likely get tube spoke wheels (F:21-inch & R:17-inch) as standard, alloy wheels in higher trims and tubeless spoke wheels as an option. Sources suggest it would be introduced in the latter half of the year. While this would be a good bike to ride, and so is the Scram 440, we are trying to wrap our heads around the reason behind RE’s move. 

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Why The Himalayan 440?

Royal Enfield has gained success with the new Himalayan 450. However, the Scram 440 hasn’t really been a hit. Initially, before the GST 2.0 norms came into play, the Scram 440 was a value-for-money offering. However, post the GST 2.0 norms, its price increased, and it now carries a price tag of ₹2.80 lakh (on-road, Mumbai) – about ₹80,000 cheaper than the Himalayan 450. Ever since, the Scram 440 hasn’t been the most fruitful and has struggled to sell much. So, if RE decide to bring in a Himalayan 440, it would likely be priced around ₹3 lakh to ₹3.20 lakh (on-road, Mumbai). This would allow RE to either use the Himalayan 440 as a decoy to sell more of the Himalayan 450 or offer something more affordable in its Adventure lineup.

However, we believe that people would want the features and performance of the Himalayan 450, and the cost might just be justified. If Royal Enfield plans to launch the Himalayan 440, the best-case scenario we believe would be to use it to upsell the Himalayan 450. Pricing-wise, it would be closer to a Triumph Scrambler 400X (350cc) and a KTM Adventure 390 (350cc), pitting it against very tough competition. People with a budget of around ₹3.20 lakh (on-road, Mumbai) would be more likely to choose the Triumph or the KTM. So, with the competition and pricing in mind, if Royal Enfield brings out the Himalayan 450, we believe it could act best as a decoy. It will be interesting to see whether Royal Enfield actually goes through with it! 

So, would you buy this Himalayan 440?

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