Alliance between Royal Enfield, one of the historical brands in the motorcycle sector, and Stark Future, a Swedish electric motorcycle manufacturer that has established its headquarters and production center in the Barcelona area. In a statement, Royal Enfield announced this Thursday that it will invest 50 million euros to acquire a 10.35% stake in Stark Future's capital, where it will also hold a position on the board of directors. The remaining 90% of the shares belong to the founders and several entrepreneurs and investors of various origins.
"This investment is of strategic importance for both Royal Enfield and Stark Future, as both companies are highly committed to creating innovative and sustainable solutions for global mobility," said Royal Enfield, whose parent company is the Indian group Eicher Motors, based in New Delhi and listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. In addition to manufacturing Royal Enfield motorcycles, Eicher owns a joint venture in India with Volvo for the production of trucks and commercial vehicles.
The entry of this Indian group into Stark Future's capital comes exactly one year after this new brand presented the prototype of its first electric motorcycle, the Stark Varg, a motocross model that has been very well received in the market and has exceeded all expectations, at the MX Golf Park motocross circuit in Sant Feliu de Codines. Stark Future's purpose was to produce 5,000 units of the Stark Varg per year, but "in 24 hours we sold nearly 1,000 motorcycles through our platform and now we are already at 11,000," the company explained to The New Barcelona Post last June. Currently, more than 17,500 pre-orders have already been exceeded, which will begin to be delivered in the first quarter of 2023.
To cope with this production, Stark Future moved its headquarters from Viladecans to a 20,500 square meter warehouse that they rented in the Prologis Park platform in Sant Boi de Llobregat and which will have a production capacity of more than 150,000 motorcycles per year. The new factory is already operational and the first 30 units are in the assembly process, according to company sources, which already employs a team of 80 people, a figure that includes the subsidiary Stark Electronics, located in Croatia.
Although Stark Future was conceived in Sweden in 2019 by Anton Wass and Paul Soucy —professionals linked to motocross and the motorcycle industry—, from the very beginning the company has been based in Catalonia with the aim of taking advantage of the important industrial tradition that exists in the Barcelona area linked to the world of motorcycles. "Making the most of Catalonia's reputation as the European capital of motorcycling, Stark Future has been able to build a dedicated, passionate and knowledgeable team at the elite of the motorcycle and power electronics industries, to build the first electric motorcycle that will be the performance leader in the motocross category," the company explains.
According to Royal Enfield, the Stark Varg (stark means strong in Swedish and varg wolf) is the "lightest and most powerful electric motocross motorcycle in the world" and the prelude to the future launch of "an ambitious range of new generation electric motorcycles" that will be produced in the Sant Boi de Llobregat factory, equipped with robotic assembly lines.
"Our goal was to challenge and inspire the motorcycle industry with the creation of Stark Varg and bring our electric technology from the drawing board to reality. Partnering now with one of the first motorcycle brands in history and being part of their journey towards sustainability is a great inspiration for us," said Stark Future founder and CEO, Anton Wass.
For his part, the CEO of Eicher Motors, Siddhartha Lal, highlighted that they love "the vision, passion and approach of Anton and the incredible Stark Future team." "They have created an absolutely amazing motocross motorcycle" and with strong potential in the emerging electric two-wheeler market, he added.
Stark Future accompanies its brand image with a golden ring that symbolizes "perfection." The firm wants to develop a complete range of sustainable and high-performance electric vehicles. The Stark Varg features a chassis composed of a combination of carbon fiber, magnesium, and aerospace-grade aluminum. It can produce a maximum power of 80 HP and has a range similar to that of a standard 450 cm3 motocross model.