Harley COO: Bikes will get more accessible

Harley Davidson's chief operating officer Matt Levatich said the company will offer motor bikes that are more "physically and financially accessible" to buyers both in the United States and abroad, but it will continue to keep its manufacturing operations almost entirely in the country.

Levatich said at the Reuters Global Manufacturing and Transportation Summit that the company is striving to appeal to a broader array of buyers, from women and minorities in the US to those in emerging markets. While volume and market share for several of its bikes have grown in 2011, the company's products still appeal to a narrow band of buyers. "In the past, our market was predominantly core customers in the US," Levatich said. "We see an opportunity, not to make (scooter-sized) bikes by any stretch, but to make Harley-Davidsons that are physically and financially accessible for emerging markets, for international markets, for the US, for that matter."

The least expensive bike Harley-Davidson offers is priced at about $8,000. Levatich said the company may consider making smaller and less expensive bikes.

However, he said the company will continue to do the bulk of its manufacturing in the United States, where it assembles nearly all the bikes it sells in the world. It also does some "complete-knock-down" assembly of motorcycles in Brazil and India due to tariff issues in those countries.

To date, Harley-Davidson has taken a largely go-it-alone strategy in places such as China and India, instead of finding a partner to develop or sell bikes. That is part ly because the company has been held back by international partnerships before, Levatich said, citing the example of a former Italian distributor that promoted lower-cost Harley sportster bikes over its upper-end models.

Levatich said if the company should some day sell a bike that appeals only to emerging markets, it would keep its options open on where to build it. But for now, it has no plans to open production plants outside the US. He said India represents a considerable opportunity for Harley-Davidson bikes — which he considers to be strictly a "leisure" product — given the acceptance of bikes in that market.