Strong speculations are going around that Harley Davidson might be discontinued for the Indian market owing to poor and decreasing sales.
Harley Davidson was one of the earliest premium motorcycle makers to enter the market. It started its India operations in 2009 and setup the first dealership in 2010. After seeing decent success for many years, the past couple ones have not turned out as desire. HD was witnessing a slow decrease in the sales and market share.
Now, reports suggest that Harley Davidson is actually planning to quit the Indian market. Due to poor sales and a weak future in the market, the company might close down its business in the country. The reports are still speculation and we will getting something official in the coming months itself.
HD is now focusing on restructuring its global operations and sizing down on the markets which are not giving much revenue. Among such is India, where the company sold only 100 units in the April to June 2020. Yes it was the lockdown period, but even prior to that, the sales numbers were below 1,000 units monthly.
There are other reports suggesting that HD might then only sell CBUs in India. Its local production plant is based near Gurgaon, where the bikes are also exported to many countries. After closing the plant, they might keep some of the dealers open for Harley fanatics. So that, they can place order and HD will get the desired bike imported.
Among its entire lineup, the Street 750 and Street Rod are the most popular and best sellers. For the Chinese market, HD is developing a new 338cc roadster which will be the most affordable bike from the American Giant. While we were speculating it to come to India as well, it seems a distant affair now.
