Harley-Davidson entered the Indian two-wheeler market in 2009 and currently the company holds the top position in the premium motorcycle segment. While the manufacturer brought down its bikes via the CBU route earlier, it was only in 2011 when Harley-Davidson India started importing their products as CKD units. The main reason for this was that CKD kits attract lesser tax than CBUs. These CKD kits are assembled at the company’s plant in Bawal, Haryana. Along with bikes, the company also offers spare parts and service, accessories as well as riding gear in India.
Harley-Davidson launched the ambitious Street 750 in February 2014 and this product has been a runaway success. The bike accounted for more than 60% of the company’s sales in the previous month i.e. April 2014. Harley-Davidson India sold 361 units in April out of which the Street 750 accounted for 210 orders. The Street 750 is priced below Rs. 5 lakhs and hence it attracts a lot of buyers who are fans of Harley-Davidson but are on a limited budget. Now, the US-based motorcycle manufacturer has started exporting the Street 750 to Belgium.
Harley-Davidson has CKD assembly operations only in the US, Brazil and India. Last year, officials from the company had made it clear that the company wishes to perform full-scale building of bikes in India which would then be exported to Europe and South East Asia. However, localisation will be done only on the Street 750 and Street 500 and exports of the latter have not yet begun. Harley-Davidson sells the Street, Sportster, Dyna, Softail, V-Rod and Touring series bikes in India which are priced from Rs. 4.27 lakhs to Rs. 36.36 lakhs (ex-showroom).
