Exclusive Interview with Royal Enfield’s Shaji Koshy #OneRide
We speak to Mr. Shaji Koshy, Senior VP, Sales & Service, Royal Enfield regarding the Royal Enfield One Ride that happened on 2nd April 2017.
Q. How was the first edition of the Royal Enfield One Ride conceptualized? How did it all start?
A. If you look at our company, we are promoting Nation Riding. We want more riders to ride with us and hence we organise our marquee events like the Himalayan Odyssey, Tour of Rajasthan, Tour of Tibet etc. We want riders across the world to ride with us. There are 15 countries participating and we select one day when the weather is the best. So we select a Sunday of April every year. More and more countries and cities are getting added and more and more number of people are riding with us.
Q. How has the response been for the One Ride over the course of time?
A. It is growing every year. As a company our network in terms of outlets is also growing, so every dealer in the world is added to this ride. This way many get to be a part of the ride and the community. Every dealer is now a part of this journey. The community is growing.
Q. What is the basic aim behind organizing the One Ride?
A. I already mentioned our aim is to add more and more riders to the community. Every year there are new riders who want to be a part of the event. Our fresh customers do not to go on more extensive rides like the Himalayan Odyssey, this is the first time they ride with us. We want these customers to enjoy the life and the way of Royal Enfield. This is a real Royal Enfield community, so anybody can come and join us. After this they themselves start riding together.
Q. How big is the Royal Enfield One Ride going to be?
A. There are 14 countries that are participating, more countries are going to join. In Chennai they got 18 dealerships and every dealer will be riding, so you will get the actual figure later on. In Bangalore, the ride will have thousand-plus riders, so its a huge activity happening across the country and across the world. Every minute people are getting added to the ride.
Q. Currently, Royal Enfield One Ride is in 5 metro cities like Mumbai. Are you planning to extend this to smaller cities?
A. It is already happening. In Kerala, people in Thrissur are riding. Some places it will be 50 participants while other places it will be thousand.
Q. Do you have any message for the RE fans out there?
A. Ride more and ride safe.