Popular American bike manufacturer, Harley Davidson might just put an end to its over a decade long stint of operations in India owing to poor sales performance. The prolific manufacturer made its entry into the Indian market in 2009 and while it got the enthusiasts enthralled, the sales figures have not really suggested a great run.
The sales never really stood upto the company’s expectations and slid downwards with every passing year, eventually forcing the company to rethink its plans for the Indian market.
Company is planning to focus on limited market
The company’s top management has stated that it is planning to focus its effort sincerely on key markets and exit those markets where the profitability and volumes have not been justifying the resources invested.
In the company’s new rewire strategy, it has decided to focus on a total of 50 markets including North America, Europe and other parts of Asia Pacific.
Could sell its manufacturing plant located in Haryana
The sales number have declined significantly in the past few years, which has meant that the company has been sending feelers to other automobile manufacturers with the help of concerned consultants in order to outsource company’s manufacturing arrangement present in Bawal, Haryana.
Company planning to narrow down its product line
Jochen Zeitz, Chairman, Haely Davidson stated that the company is planning to shrink its product line by 30% in order to focus in a better way on products that matter the most.
“This enables us to invest in the products and platforms that matter the most, while better balancing our investment in new high potential segments,”- he said.
Poor sales figures in recent times
In the last fiscal year (April 2019 – March 2020) the American manufacturer sold a paltry 2500 units of Harley in India while the export figures stood at 2100 units. To get a better perspective, when put against the global sales figure of 02,10,000 goes onto tell that their performance has not really been encouraging.
The April-June period witnessed a decline of 87% to a discouraging 106 units. The exports meanwhile have sunk by 40%, dropping to 229 units.
Author’s Take
While there is no official word from the company yet, going by the poor sales, the official word won’t surprise us either. It will go along well with the company’s plan of channelizing all of their focus in successful markets only.
Harley never really flourished in the Indian market but as it turned out the onset of COVID-19 proved to be the final nail in the coffin, with the sales stooping to an all-time low.
