Bike India – August 2019

SiddharthaLalisstilltheManaging

DirectorofEicherMotors,but,just

likehisfather,VikramLal,hehas

steppeddownastheCEOofthe

company,appointingVinodDasari

tothatposition.Siddharthawill,however,stayonforsome

periodandalsoofferhissupportforproduct-andbrand-

relatedmatters.

TheEicherMotorsMDhasbeena busymanthisyearwiththe

highlysuccessfullaunchofthenewRoyalEnfield650-cctwins.

LastyearRoyalEnfieldreceiveda numberofawardsand

accoladesfromacrosstheworld,makingit quitea memorable

year.Inaddition,RoyalEnfieldarealsobusyopeningassembly

plantsoftheirbikesinothercountries.

SiddharthaLalwasthemanbehindtheresurrectionand

growthofRoyalEnfieldinIndiaandtheworld.Hehasa

bachelor’sdegreeineconomicsfromtheUniversityofDelhi,

alongwitha post-graduatediplomainmechanicalengineering

anda master’sdegreeinautomotiveengineeringfromthe

CranfieldUniversityandtheUniversityofLeedsrespectively.

DiegoGraffiobtaineda bachelor’s

degreeinmechanicalengineering

fromthePadovaUniversityin

Italy.Hestartedhiscareerin

theautomotiveindustrywith

ApriliaandFIAT.Graffialsohelda

seniorpositionatMotoGuzzi,

whereheoversawtheproductionofthemotorcyclesbefore

joiningPiaggio.

Graffiplayeda majorroleastheheadofproductionand

purchasedivisionofthetwo-andthree-wheelerbusinesses

oncehejoinedPiaggio,inItalyandSouth-EastAsia.

DiegoGraffibroughthisimmenseknowledgeandexpertiseof

thebusinesstothePiaggioGroupwhenhebecametheCEO.

Duetohisvastexperienceintheautomotiveindustry,Diego

GraffiwaseminentlyqualifiedtoholdthetoppositionasCEO

andMDofPiaggio.Intheseyears,GraffisupervisedtheIndian

businessasa GlobalProcurementHead,beforebecomingthe

CEO.Currently,astheCEOofthePiaggioGroup,Graffiisfocused

onthedevelopmentandexecutionofa viablestrategytoboost

thecompany’sgrowthinthetwo-wheelerandcommercial

vehiclebusiness.

MVAgustaisa namesynonymous

withpremiumandexotic

motorcyclesthatonecanbuyin

Indiatoday.MVAgustabuildsome

ofthemostexpensivemotorcycles.

AjinkyaFirodiaheadsthemulti-

brandoutlet,MotoRoyale,which

hasbroughtthemarquetoIndia

andisalsotheManagingDirectorofMVAgustaIndia.

Ajinkyaobtaineda bachelor’sdegreeinengineeringand

economicsfromtheBrownUniversityintheUSin2001.Initially,

heworkedastheMDofKineticEngineeringLtdfrom2009.By

2015,hehadbecomethecompany’schieffinancialofficer.This

wasthesameyearwhenAjinkyaestablishedMotoRoyaleand

announceditsassociationwithMVAgusta,followedbya tie-up

withBritishmotorcyclemajorNortonin2017.Theotherbrands

withwhomMotoRoyaleisassociatedareSWM,FBMondial,and

Hyosung.

Currently,Pune-basedKineticEngineeringisintheprocessof

developinganall-newmotorcycleinthe200-250ccsegment

withitsBritishpartner,NortonMotorcycles.ThenewNorton

motorcyclewillbea globalproductwhichwillbemanufactured

inIndiabutsoldallovertheworld.Thebikeisexpectedtobe

developedinthenextcoupleofyears.

SiddhaRthalal

diegogRaffi

ajinkyafiRodia

MD,RoyalEnfield

CEO,PiaggioGroup

MD,MotoRoyaleandMVAgustaIndia

POWER PERSONALITIES

96 Bike India august 2019 http://www.bikeindia.in