Harley-Davidson to drive alone in India

Mumbai: Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson on Wednesday said it will not look for a partner in the country if it plans to assemble bikes in India. The company has completed a year in the country and believes the next one year will be very crucial to decide its next step in the market.

“We have come with open eyes and will see if assembling is needed in the country. High import duty remains a concern. It all depends upon how we perform in the market. If we assemble, we will do it on our own and not under a joint venture. Harley-Davidson is all about how we build our motorcycles,” said Anoop Prakash, managing director, Harley-Davidson India.

Harley-Davidson has only one assembly facility outside the US - in Brazil, where it gets bikes in completely knocked down (CKD) position. If it decides to assemble in India, it will be its second outside the US and also first to start assembling superbikes in India. The company sees huge growth potential in the Asian, Middle East and European markets. In this part of the world, the company has a presence in China, Taiwan, Japan and Australia. Japan is the largest in terms of volumes.

The company will be going full swing in India with five dealerships by September. Harley Davidson opened its fourth dealership in the country in Mumbai. Asked about its sales, Sanjay Tripathi, director of marketing, Harley-Davidson India, said, “We will be in a position to disclose numbers by the third quarter of this year after all our five dealerships are up and running.”

The company will be announcing a new range of models for 2011 in January. At that time, the company will review the performance of the 12 models it has in the country and replace the ones not giving it decent volumes.

Asked if one can expect some price correction, Prakash said, “We do not believe in discounting. We keep our margins intact. We have sales happening at both lower as well as higher end.” Harley Davidson sells bikes in the range of Rs 6.95 to Rs 34.95 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi) in the country. Some of the popular models include Softail Fat Boy, touring Road King and Dyna Street Bob. The company sees accessories also to get decent revenues in the country.

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