We are selling leisure motorcycles, not two-wheelers

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Anand J, Ajay Sukumaran: Nov 30 2012, 03:55 IST

After clocking 40% sales growth last year, high-end motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson has now set its sights on India’s non-metros in its attempt to grow the market for leisure motorcycling in India. Anoop Prakash, the managing director, Harley-Davidson India, told Ajay Sukumaran and Anand J that the company is confident of its investments in an assembly plant in Haryana and customer outreach will drive demand in what’s still a niche segment in India. Excerpts:

Harley has been expanding to the country’s smaller cities. How has the ride been?

Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore certainly form the three biggest markets for us. The last three cities where we have started selling are Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Kochi, and all these have had really strong starts with the momentum continuing well post- launch. We entered the Indian market with our first showroom in July 2010 and since then, have opened nine showrooms. We have expanded so fast because of the kind of enthusiasm we saw across India. By year-end, we will have 10 showrooms, including one in Goa. Next year, we will be in Jaipur, Indore and Pune.

Is it pent-up demand that is driving sales for you? How long do you think you can sustain this momentum?

First, since July 2010, we would have sold over 2,000 Harleys. We have really focused on accessibility, implying we have invested in completely knocked down (CKD) operations. By assembling six models here, we have been able to propel the value-for-money equation. Second, we brought to India the full Harley-Davidson

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