Harley-Davidson India

Harley-Davidson India

Founded	2009[1]
Headquarters	Gurgaon, Haryana, India
Key people	Anoop Prakash (Managing Director)[1][2]
Products	Motorcycles
Parent	Harley-Davidson
Website	harley-davidson.in

Harley-Davidson India is a wholly owned subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, based in Gurgaon, Haryana, India.^[3] Harley-Davidson India commenced operations in August 2009 and appointed its first dealership in July 2010. ^[4]

Harley-Davidson offers a range of 11 models in India from each of its six platforms – Sportster, Dyna, Softail, V-Rod, Touring and Street – in addition to a full range of parts, accessories, and general merchandise, available through authorized dealerships. The company has 15 dealership facilities across India: New Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Indore, Pune, Goa and Jaipur.^{[5] [6]} In 2011, The company has also set up an assembly unit at Bawal, Haryana. In 2011, Harley-Davidson India began the assembly of its Sportster line followed by the assembly of the Dyna line in 2012 and Softail line in 2013. In 2014, Harley-Davidson began manufacturing the Street 750 and 500 motorcycles in India - at Bawal, Haryana India, its only manufacturing facility outside of the US.^[7] The Street platform is jointly manufactured at Harley-Davidson’s US and India plants. The Street 750 is also exported to Europe and Asia markets from India.^[8] Harley-Davidson India also sponsors the country’s Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.).^[9] The company organizes five big rides across the north, south, east and west zones along with the India H.O.G. Rally that takes place every year in Goa.^[10] In 2009, Harley-Davidson India also established its annual rock music tour– Harley Rock Riders. ^[11] Harley Davidson will expand its reach in small cities in India. “We are expanding our footprints in tier-II cities in India,” Vikram Pawah, Harley Davidson’s Managing Director for Indian operations, told PTI.^[12]

The United States ambassador to India, Timothy J. Roemer, attended the opening ceremonies for H-D India's Gurgaon headquarters on May 6, 2010.^[13]

History

In 2009, Harley-Davidson announced plans to establish a subsidiary to be located in Gurgaon, near Delhi.^[14] Plans to enter the Indian market were delayed for several years, due to high tariffs and emissions regulations.^[15] The pollution regulations have recently changed, but the tariff problem is yet unresolved.^[16]

In 2007, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and the Minister for Commerce and Industry of India, Kamal Nath, had agreed that Harley-Davidson motorcycles will be allowed access to the Indian market in exchange for the export of Indian mangoes.^[17] One Indian commentator called this "mango diplomacy."^[18] However, India had not specified emission standards for motorcycles over 500 cc displacement, effectively prohibiting the import of Harley-Davidsons, along with most models of other manufacturers.^[19] Plans to export to India were also held up by import duties of 60% and taxes of 30%, which effectively doubled the sale price.^[20] A Harley-Davidson spokesman said the company thinks demand is high enough to overcome the tariffs, and chief operating officer Matt Levatich said they would continue to push for lower tariffs.^[21]

Harley-Davidson is introducing 12 models in India from the range of five motorcycle families, namely Sportster, Dyna, VRSC, Softail and CVO. The motorcycles are completely built units and will be imported to India, thus attracting a tax over 100% in the price range of 695,000 rupees and 3,495,000 rupees ex-showroom. The bookings might start from April 2010 and the motorcycle delivery will commence from June 2010. To begin with, Harley-Davidson would have five dealerships (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chandigarh) with the aim of increasing the dealerships to more than 20 in the next five years.^[22] In November 2010, Harley-Davidson said that it will start an assembly facility for complete knock down (CKD) kits of its motorcycles in India by the first half of 2011, making it only the second CKD facility outside the US.^[23] In 2014 Harley will begin production of their Harley-Davidson Street 500 and 750 models in India for domestic sales and export.

References