It seems that India has become the most favoured destinations for major car and bike makers, in order to manufacture their vehicles. Iconic motorcycle manufacturer, Harley-Davidson recently announced that it will commence full-scale production of bikes from India, wherein they shall also be exported to major European and South East Asian countries. Commenting on this, Matthew Levatich, President and Chief Operating Officer of Harley-Davidson was quote as saying, "We are excited about the potential of the Indian market and around the world, particularly in regards to the response we have had from young adults. We are going to utilise our plant in India to build the Street models not only to cater to the market there but also export to Europe and South East Asia."
He also said that the recently unveiled Street 750 and Street 500 bikes are based on an all new platform, which will be manufactured in India by the first quarter of 2014. A thing to note here is that since 2011, the iconic US based bike manufacturer has been bringing its bikes through the Completely Knocked Down (CKD) route in the Indian auto market. It has set up an assembling unit at Bawal in Haryana, which is only meant for domestic production. This plant is second after Brazil where Harley-Davidson has set up its CKD facility, outside United States.
Levatich further added that "Now what we are going to do is that instead of the CKD kits coming from our plants in the US, the parts will now directly come to India from vendors and bikes will be assembled there." Besides to these, the fabrication of fuel tanks and fenders will be manufactured in the country as the two new models are expected to scale up the production operations of the company to full, instead of the earlier assembling operations. However, Harley-Davidson would only be manufacturing the two upcoming models in India and other bikes would continue to feature through the CKD route.
Further commenting on the plans of exporting Street models, he told “We will start with Spain, Italy and Portugal. This will start almost simultaneously when we launch the Street 700 in India in the spring of 2014. Exports to South East Asia will not happen in the first year, we will evaluate the markets first." Currently in the Indian car market, Harley-Davidson offers 11 models under Sportster, Dyna, Softail, V-Rod and Touring categories. In India, the company would be making one more addition to current product line-up with Street 750 bike. Harley-Davidson has confirmed plans of introducing Street 750 model in India while for the Street 500 model, it has remained silent on its availability in the country.
In terms of pricing both the Street models, the company has not given any information, as of now. The street series has been designed specifically by the company to cater the urban needs of its buyers. Both the bikes are rendered with the new and advanced Revolution X engine, which has been designed keeping in mind about the urban traffic situations. On asking Anoop Prakash, Managing Director of Harley-Davidson India about the company's sales figures, he told that it is aiming to achieve a target of 4000 units by the end of 2013, while maintaining silence on disclosing the current figures.
Meanwhile, the auto maker has been expanding its Indian product line-up as it recently introduced its Street Glide model in the country. Unlike other bikes, the model is offered in India through the CBU (Completely Built Unit) route and is priced at Rs. 29 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
