Kiwi Rider September 2023 Vol.1 | Page 18

ROAD NEWS

Royal Enfield ’ s most affordable option has proven to be a sales hit , with the Hunter 350 racking up a 200,000 + strong Hunter 350 community across the globe … and still counting ! Royal Enfield proudly announced this month that the Hunter 350 had crossed the 200,000 sales mark after just one year on the market . Launched in August 2022 , the Hunter touched 100,000 sales mark in February 2023 - just six months from the start of retail - and has completed the next 100,000 sales milestone in just five months since . Developed from the ground-up , and built to have a strong Royal Enfield character combined with a fresh and appealing compact design , the Hunter 350 has been instrumental in bringing in a new set of consumers into the Royal Enfield community , and its growing acclaim is a strong testament that it is doing just that . “ The Hunter 350 is , undoubtedly , the most popular motorcycle launched in the mid-size motorcycle segment over the last year ,” Royal

Enfield CEO , Mr . B . Govindarajan said . “ We are very proud that in less than one year since its launch the Hunter has amassed a proud community of more than two hundred thousand riders across the world . Not just in India , the Hunter 350 is increasingly growing in popularity across international markets as well . We thank our new and vibrant Hunter community for making ‘ Hunter 350 ’ a huge success and helping us achieve this milestone in a very short time . Powered by our state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Chennai , and our expansive global retail network , we are confident to be able to cater to growing demand for Hunter across the world .”

Entrepreneur , Roberto Colaninno , who was best known as the Chairman and CEO of Italian motorcycling giant the Piaggio Group , has passed away . While no cause of death was given by Colaninno ’ s investment group IMMSI , the CEO of the Piaggio Group which owns the Aprilia , Derbi , Gilera , Moto Guzzi , Piaggio and Vespa brands , had only recently turned 80 . After a career that spanned both the automotive and telecom sectors , Roberto Colaninno made a new start with the acquisition of the Immsi real estate company in 2002 , which he transformed into an industrial holding and through which he acquired Piaggio in 2003 . In December 2004 he expanded the scope of his industrial operations with a move into the motorcycle business through the acquisition of Aprilia and Moto Guzzi respectively . The public listing in 2006 cut Piaggio ’ s debt . Since then , the group has achieved impressive growth : it is Europe ’ s largest scooter and motorcycle manufacturer and one of the industry ’ s primary players worldwide , it produces light commercial vehicles ( the Ape three-wheeler and the Porter ) and in 2015 it formed a robotics division , Piaggio Fast Forward , the Group ’ s future mobility research centre in Boston , USA , which developed Gita , a land drone based on follow-me technology . He is survived by his wife Oretta and their two sons Matteo and Michele .

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