Royal Enfield Motors Limited

Royal Enfield is one of the premier bike and motorcycle manufactures of the world. Royal Enfield's origin can be traced back to 1851 when George Townsend put up his needle-making mill in Hunt End, a village in England. After he passed away, his son George Townsend Jr. established a bicycle-manufacturing firm. In 1891, due to financial trouble Townsend's company was taken over by Albert Edie and R.W. Smith. They re-christened the firm as 'The Edie Manufacturing Company Limited'.

Soon after, Albert Edie got a lucrative contract to supply precision rifle parts to the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield Middlesex. To celebrate the contract Edie and Smith decided to call the first new design of bicycle, the 'Enfield'. A new company was created to market these new design bicycles called 'The Enfield Manufacturing Company Limited'. In 1893, the word Royal (after the Royal Small Arms Company) was added and thus Royal Enfield came into being.

In 1909, Royal Enfield launched its first motorcycle and during First World War Royal Enfield supplied motorcycles to the British War Department. In 1931, the company came up with a four-valve, single cylinder bike and christened it "Bullet".

In 1949, the 350cc Bullet was launched in India, when Madras Motors won an order from the Indian Army for the supply of motorcycles. In 1955, Indian Army insisted that they would continue doing business with Madras Motors only if Bullet was produced indigenously and thus Enfield India was established. In 1993, the Eicher group acquired Enfield India Company and changed its name to Royal Enfield Motors Limited.