It's CKD for Harley Davidson

It seems that Harley Davidson is pretty serious about their operations in India and therefore after Kawasaki, Harley Davidson is on it's way to become the second foreign manufacturer to adopt the CKD method of bringing their bikes into the country. Once the facility in Haryana is up and operational, the duties on Harley Davidson bikes would come down to 25% from a whooping 140%, which is significant drop.

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It has been said that Harley would be taking the CKD route for select models, and in my opinion, Harley Davidson should think about the bikes sitting very high on the price bracket, to make them more affordable. India is just the second country to have Harley's CKD unit built after Brazil, where the company began assembly operations way back in 1999. Parts would be imported directly from Harley's facilities at Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Missouri to Haryana's assembly unit where they would be assembled.

Nothing has been said about manufacturing parts locally in India to bring the prices further down, but going but the quality constraints, I would think that Harley Davidson would hold back on this for now, but this should be definitely their next logical step.

Here's what the press release had to say -

Anoop Prakash (Managing Director for Harley-Davidson India) : “We are building a strong foundation for our business in India, first by establishing a world-class dealer network, and now by commencing CKD assembly operations. It is important for us to continue to invest in strategies that make our products and experiences accessible to an increasingly broader set of customers across India,”
“We are delighted to announce the Company’s plans to establish assembly operations in India,” said Harley-Davidson Motor Company President and Chief Operating Officer Matthew S. Levatich. “CKD assembly operations are a natural next step for Harley-Davidson as we increase our ability to meet the needs of India’s consumers.”

Levatich : “This investment will allow Harley-Davidson to improve our market responsiveness and production flexibility while reducing the tariff burden, which we expect will drive growth over time by making our bikes more accessible to India’s consumers. Given the strong response we have received in the initial months of retail operations, we believe this is the right investment for this important market. We are committed to global growth and growth in India for the long term. India’s rapidly growing economy, rising middle class and significant investment in construction of new roads and highways are paving the way for leisure motorcycle riding.”

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