Harley Davidson and Hero MotoCorp entered into a partnership in October last year after the former exited the Indian market
India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer- Hero MotoCorp will soon tap into the premium segment of motorcycles by launching a retro-style bike with Harley Davidson branding. Around the same time last year, the latter quit sales and assembly operations in India after a decade-long unfruitful business in the country.
The iconic American brand forged an alliance with the Indian two-wheeler giant in October last year. As per this alliance, the local firm will handle exclusive sales and distribution of Harley Davidson motorcycles, parts and merchandise in the country in the foreseeable future. However, there is more to this partnership than just distribution and retail.
New Retro Motorcycle Under H-D Brand
In an interaction with PTI, Hero MotoCorp CFO Niranjan Gupta revealed that there are two legs to the Harley tie-up strategy. The first one being the sales distributors for Harley motorcycles in India which currently includes 14 dealers in around 30 touchpoints. The second part of the strategy is to develop motorcycles indigenously which will carry the Harley Davidson nameplate. This will start with a new retro-style motorcycle, most probably in the mid-displacement segment.
Gupta highlighted that the retro segment is almost one-third of the overall premium segment out of the profit pool. He further revealed that development of the upcoming motorcycle under the Harley Davidson brand is in full swing. As of now, there are no details available regarding the upcoming motorcycle but hopefully, in the near future some light is thrown on its development.
Hero expects tie-up with Harley-Davidson would help it accelerate its presence in the premium motorcycle segment where it aims to establish a complete portfolio cutting across segments and engine capacities. Gupta further confirmed that Hero’s first electric two-wheeler will be launched next year.
Harley Davidson Pan America 1250
Earlier this year, Hero MotoCorp started accepting bookings for 13 Harley Davidson models in India with prices commencing at Rs 10 lakh and going up to Rs 35 lakh (both prices ex-showroom). Around 100 Harley-Davidson motorcycles, constituting the first batch assigned to the Indian market this year, have been completely pre-booked.
Last month the American bikemaker launched Pan America 1250 in India which is the company’s first proper adventure motorcycle in its portfolio. The new Pan America has been priced at Rs 16.90 lakh for the base Standard variant and at Rs 19.19 lakh for the Special (both prices ex-showroom).
Both variants come in with a range of colour options that include Gauntlet Gray Metallic, Vivid Black, River Rock Gray, Two-Tone Baja Orange / Stone Washed White Pearl. It directly competes against premium adventure motorcycles such as BMW R 1250 GS and Ducati Multistrada V4.
Source: Bike - rushlane.com
