Some Reflections on Entrance of Harley Davidson in India

Now, Indians can get a test of American style biking. Harley-Davidson, one of the most popular and iconic bike producers of the U.S., showcased its bikes at the recently held 10^th Indian Auto Expo, at the Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.

Harley-Davidson (www.harley-davidson.in.) is the number one producer of cruising and touring motorcycles in the world and one of the strongest bike brands. It produces heavy bikes and all the necessary motorcycle parts, accessories and general merchandise. The company currently sells motor bikes in more than seventy countries in the world but North America is still the company’s largest market. Now, the company is looking forward to sell its bikes in the Indian market.

Harley-Davidson at the Delhi Auto Expo 2010:

At the 10^th Indian Auto Expo, Harley-Davidson showcased its custom painted Harley-Davidson Softail FLSTF FAT BOY. It will be the first motorcycle to go on sale in India in tri-color accent. Anoop Prakash, Managing Director, Harley-Davidson India, said that for more than a century, Harley-Davidson had been inspiring motorists around the world to celebrate their passion for riding. As a leader in the leisure motorcycle segment worldwide, his company is naturally suited to lead and define leisure riding in India. Harley-Davidson came to India with a promise to bring riders the pure Harley-Davidson experience with bikes from every family. The Hindu Business Line reports:

The legendary motorcycle brand is set to enter India with its full range of five motorcycle families, the Sportster, the Dyna, the VRSC, the Softail and the top-of-the-range Touring series. Twelve models of Harley-Davidson would be launched in the country, The Managing Director of Harley-Davidson India, Mr Anoop Prakash, says this is set to develop a whole new leisure riding segment in India.

Harley Davidson planning to do business in India:

After China, India is the second largest two-wheelers market in the world. More than 500-600 super bikes are sold every year in India. The super-bike segment in India is currently dominated by Japanese bike makers including Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha.

For a long time, Harley Davidson has been eyeing the Indian market. Since 2005, the company is in talks with the Indian government but the two sides failed to reach any agreement on the grounds of import duty and emission standards. Earlier, there was no specified emission standard for motorcycles over 500cc engine displacement which prohibited the import of Harley-Davidson and other manufacturers of similar bikes.

In May 2007, Mr. Timothy Hoelter, Vice-President, Government Affaires, Harley Davidson Inc, came to India for the third time. He told reporters that his company is very keen to enter the Indian market but the 60% import duty plus 30% local taxes almost doubled the prices of their bikes. He also said that he would continue his visit to India to talk with government officials and promised to harmonize his company’s products according to the Indian emission standards. Mr. Hoelter’s son-in-law is an Indian and he said that he had wanted to see Harley-Davidson bikes on the roads of New Delhi.

In 2007, Susan Schwab, U.S. Trade Representative, met with Kamal Nath, Minister for Commerce and Industry. Mr. Nath had agreed to give access to Harley-Davidson to the Indian market in exchange for the export of Indian mangoes to the U.S. India recently changed its pollutions regulations but tariff issue could not be solved. Harley-Davidson officials will continue their plea to the government to exempt their products from import duty.

In August 2009, Harley-Davidson finally announced its plan to enter the Indian market. The company established subsidiary at Gurgaon, near Delhi and started to look for dealers. Despite the high price tag of the motorcycles, Harley-Davidson believed that the local demand would help them to overcome this problem.

Harley-Davidson models for the Indian market:

At the initial stage, Harley-Davidson will bring five full ranges of motorcycles in India. They are:

• Sportster
• XL 883L SPORTSTER
• XL 1200N NIGHTSTER
• XL 883R ROADSTER
• XR 1200X

• Dyna
• FXDB STREET BOB
• FXDC SUPER GLIDE CUSTOM

• VRSC
• VRSCDX NIGHT ROD SPECIAL

• Softail
• FLSTF FAT BOY
• LSTC HERITAGE SOFTAIL CLASSIC

• Touring
• FLHR ROAD KING
• FLHX STREET GLIDE
• FLHTCUSE ULTRA CLASSIC ELECTRA GLIDE (CVO)

Price range:

The base price of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle will start from Rs.6,95,000 up to Rs. 34,95,000. Anoop Prakash said that they have tried to give all the Indian bike enthusiasts an opportunity to join the Harley-Davidson family. Harley-Davidson will also provide genuine parts and accessories and a wide range of riding apparel and merchandise through their dealer network in India. The Harley-Davidson FXDC Super Glide Custom is priced at Rs.15,40,000. It will be customized according to buyer’s choice. The Electra Glide Touring model is the costliest of all with a price tag of Rs.34,95,000 each. Bookings for the motorcycle will start from April at local dealers situated in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chandigarh. The company is looking forward to increase its dealership numbers to twenty in the next five years.

Promotional events:

In order to familiarize Indian riders with Harley-Davidson motorcycles, the company organized ‘boot camps’ and ‘founders rides’ in Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bangalore, where more than three hundred riding enthusiasts got the opportunity to learn about the motorcycles and the model families and provide their ideas.

Harley-Davidson has further plans to arrange more such promotional events. The company considers anyone between 18 and 64 as its potential customer.

Establishing manufacturing plants in India:

For now, the Harley-Davidson motorcycles will be imported as completely-built-units with 105% import duty. Anoop Prakash said that his company is interested to set up plants in India if it is viable.

MOU with ICIC Bank:

During the auto expo, Harley-Davidson also announced that it had signed a MOU with ICIC Bank to finance buyers to buy Harley-Davidson motorcycles. ICIC will offer loans for up to five years at an interest rate of 11% for buying Harley-Davidson bikes. The lowest calculated EMI (Equated Monthly Installment), for the Harley 2010 HD XL883 Low Sportster, is Rs. 12,485. It would further increase for other models.

Related articles:

Hindustan Times

News Center

Top News.in

Harley-Davidson.com

Wikipedia

Indian Car Market Saw 102.69% Sales Growth in Luxurious Car Segment

If you have a slightest idea about Indian car market, then you might know that India has a price sensitive market where price plays a big role among the consumers. However, the trend now seems to be changing. For many years, Indian car market was not an appropriate place for luxury cars. However, last year the luxury car segment has seen a substantial growth of 102.69%, which tells the current market trend.

Actually, Indian economy is growing fast. Moreover, their stock market and real state business is getting stronger. So, many people have money at their hand to spend some more for luxury and the young generation is driven by luxurious life style. Luxury cars like BMW, Mercedes are doing well in the market at this moment. Mercedes has experienced 58.5% growth in its C-class and S-class sales in the first quarter of this year.

Cartradeindia reported:

On one hand, companies are offering more choices in the luxury segment while on the other hand, people are having more disposable income. This segment has seen an enormous growth of 102.69% in the last financial year 2007-08 as compared to the previous one in 06-07.

"The booming stock market and real estate sector in India have helped several people make their fortunes out of it. This has resulted in more people splurging on top-end brands like BMW," says Peter Kronschnabl, president, BMW India.

Though it is true that not all of Indian popularity has got the blessings of economic growth in the country, there are now more millionaires and billionaires in the country that means the luxurious car segment of Indian market will see some more successes in the coming quarters of the year. So, the luxurious car makers will not be more interested to enter into Indian car market.

Hyundai: Rapidly conquering Indian auto market

India’s second largest motor car manufacturer, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) experienced a cumulative growth of 47.8% in its car sales last month. The total sales of the April stood at 40,001 units including 21,501 domestic sales and exporting 18,500 units export. Last year, at the same time the cumulative sales growth was 27,069 units. Infibeam reports:

Commenting on the sales, Arvind Saxena, Sr VP, Marketing & Sales, HMIL said, “HMIL sales for April had been robust with a very healthy growth and we feel that the budget has been a contributory factor. The i10 too has done exceedingly well to establish itself as a major player in this segment with domestic sales alone accounting for over 50,000 units in just six months which is the fastest ever for any model and with the highest growth rate in this segment things are looking good for HMIL”.

Overall, in the first quarter of 2008, HMIL sold 106,995 cumulative units. HMIL also opened its 13^th store in Bangalore this month. This makes the company’s number of dealership 54 in the southern region. The latest showroom is built over 55,000 square feet which makes it one of the biggest “3S facility” (sales, service, spares).

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company (SEO:005380) of South Korea. It is one of the top car manufacturers in India. Currently, the company is offering 30 different types of passenger carrying vehicles in the market. In India the company has 230 outlets which will increase to 300 by the end of 2008.

Related articles:

Economic Times

Infibeam