Harley-Davidson began its operations in India in 2009 and has a plant in Haryana. It had 33 dealerships across India. 11 years have passed and now these iconic American Harley-Davidson motorcycles may not be produced in India anymore. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Harley-Davidson was not running profitably and their business was very slow. During the pandemic, many industries faced exorbitant losses and two-wheeler industries were affected in a big way.
An H-D report mentioned that its retail sales were down by 10% in the Asian Pacific region in the second quarter of 2020 as compared to the same period in 2019. According to the data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacture (SIAM), H-D’s domestic cumulative sales for the financial year 2019-2020 was just under 2,500 units whereas that of Royal Enfield was over 42,000 units.
Recently, Harley Davidson said, “Harley-Davidson plans to concentrate on approximately 50 markets primarily in North America, Europe and parts of Asia Pacific that represent the vast majority of the company’s volume and growth potential. The company is evaluating plans to exit international markets where volumes and profitability do not support continued investment in line with the future strategy.”