The Indian arm of Harley Davidson, the world's oldest and iconic American motorcycle manufacturer, has revealed intentions to set up a manufacturing facility, which will produce entry level two wheelers aimed at domestic bike enthusiasts. The company already has a Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits assembly unit at Bawal in Haryana that commenced operations in 2011. The Bawal unit is the second Harley Davidson manufacturing unit apart from home turf of United States, with the first one being in Brazil. The Indian made Harleys are expected to see the American firm's local stores in 2014.
Evidently, Harley Davidson seems to be working towards making its products more price competitive for Indian market and are determined to challenge the likes of its fellow Japanese and European motorcycle makers. Hence, in order to consolidate a decent market share, the American bike major has devised to thoughtful strategy to introduce Indian made entry level motorcycles, a segment that contributes to a majority of total sales of two wheelers in the country.
Evidently, Harley Davidson's competitors like Suzuki and Royal Enfield have found it easier to lure Indian customers due to their smartly priced models as compared to the American firm. The upcoming Harley manufacturing unit could help the company in expanding its customer base and overall market reach in the country. The new Harley Davidson bikes are expected to come with an alluring price tag, because of other local assembly and entry level idea. The new aggressively priced Harley motorcycles targeting Indian bike aficionados are expected to come with V-twin powerplant configuration within 400 cc to 500 cc variants.
