On September 24, 2020, Harley-Davidson announced a heavy decision. It is a major American motorcycle manufacturer. It will withdraw from the Indian market. Harley has built a motorcycle factory in India. But Harley is not popular in the Indian market. And it performs poorly. If it does not retreat, it may usher in huge losses.
Former U.S. President Trump has admired Harley motorcycles. So, Trump has mediated and intervened many times regarding India's high tariffs on Harley. Not only that, he talked about high tariffs during the phone call with the Prime Minister of India. From the current perspective, these are all the last struggles.
In addition, some relevant dignitaries said that there would be new trends in the Indian market. It is beneficial for European and American capitalism to enter India. However, India has the momentum of economic nationalism. So, European and American companies are not welcome. On the contrary, there will be some acts of suppression. The balance is more inclined to Indian enterprises from beginning to end. India even does not hesitate to give them more support.
Back then, Harley entered the Indian market with such a huge momentum. It wanted to get a share of the pie. But it was a bleak business. The data from the Motor Vehicle Information Platform draws a conclusion. From April 2018 to March 2019, India’s motorcycle production reached 24.5 million units. And its sales reached 21.18 million units. This is a very eye-catching figure. In the Indian market, Harley can only sell single digits a day, or even less than 10 vehicles. Not to mention the total sales of motorcycles in India. It can't be compared with some local brands of motorcycles in India. It can't be compared with some Japanese brands. It can be said that India is the most dismal international market for Harley.
In order to remain in the Indian market, Harley has racked its brains. First of all, in order to avoid the problem of high tariffs, Harley opened a factory in 2011. It decided to assemble its own parts. This reduced various costs. Unfortunately, the sales volume is low. The factory has not been able to operate. On the contrary, the cost has been accumulating. Later, Harley thought about entrusting the assembly of parts to some local factories in India. But it did not find a suitable partner. So, it abandoned this plan.
In March 2020, Harley had a new CEO Jochen Zeitz. He requested that Harley's business need to be reorganized. The first is to withdraw from these unprofitable overseas markets. And India is the first to bear the brunt.
Because of COVID-19 pandemic, Harley encountered serious loss. And it had to withdraw from the Indian market. After the closure of the factory, local Indian employees lost their jobs. And Harley spent 75 million US dollars to pay for various expenses.
To sum up, Harley Motorcycle announced its withdrawal from the Indian market. This may be one of the best choices at present.
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