Harley Davidson to partner Royal Enfield

When west meets east

Harley Davidson the american cult bike maker may finally relent from its policy of building Harley’s only in US. In 2007, under a quid pro quo between US and indian Government, India Government relaxed the import policy to facilitate import of super bikes of capcity over 800cc while the US Government allowed the entry of Indian mangoes. But the high import duty on CBU (Completely Build Unit) continues to haunt Harley Davidson. Harley has several times expressed his displeasure on high import duty. It also heavily lobbied for the duty cut. But the Indian Government never budged to its demand. In the meanwhile, Yamaha and lunched their superbikes ranging from Rs10 lakh to Rs50 lakh to lure high profile indian customers. Realising the other’s move, it seems Harley has finally decided to assemble bikes in India. (CBU attracts 110% duty while the CKD attracts only 60%) Harleys will be imported as CKD units and assembled hers. The latest buzz Harley Davidson is looking for a local partner. Who may be the best mate for Harley other than homegrown cult bike maker Royal Enfield. Yes, the big ‘H’ may tie up with big ‘R’ of motor industry to sell bikes in India. “India imposes a duty of 60% on heavyweight motorcycles which, coupled with the tax rate of 30%, creates a significant barrier for our entry into the Indian market. Harley-Davidson continues to seek a solution to the barriers. We are in the process of laying the groundwork for a possible entry into the Indian market should those barriers be lifted,” a Harley Davidson spokesperson said.

Harley Davidson may finally hit the Indian roads

American cult bike brand Harley Davidson may finally hit the Indian roads. In an effort to ease import of all bikes with over 800cc engine capacity, the government has relaxed their testing norms. The director general of foreign trade (DGFT) has now allowed import of all such bikes which have been tested and approved (read homologated) by any certified agency from the European Union.

The earlier policy stated that all these tests needed to be carried only in the ‘country of origin’ of the product. As a result, Harley Davidson’s 800cc and above bikes were required to be homologated in the US. Similarly, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha bikes had to be homologated in Japan, where they are actually manufactured, in order to be road-worthy in India.

Many bike makers, including Harley Davidson, had been lobbying with the government to relax these homologation norms. Harley had been facing problems meeting Indian homologation norms, which had been the biggest impediment for imports to India. Now its US-made bikes can tag an EU homologation certificate to be sold in India.

The government’s decision will also encourage other two-wheeler majors such as Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki to introduce their full range of high-powered products in India. Yamaha Motor India has already launched its two super bikes — 1,000 cc YZF R1 and 1,680 cc MT01 — in India. These homologated and certified in India before the relaxed import policy was announced in April this year.

However, for other super bike makers such as Suzuki Motorcycle India (SMIL), which plans to launch its legendary 1300 cc Hayabusa and the 1600 cc B King sometime next year, the new policy will now expedite the launch.

SMIL vice-president (sales & marketing) Atul Gupta said, “It will help us immensely to introduce our bikes faster in India. As our current homologation certificates from Netherlands will be allowed here, we will get a big boost in this niche market.”

The super bike manufacturers have also asked the government to reduce the current 110% duty on the import of such bikes to make the price competitive. “We cannot compete with high-duty structures which make our price very uncompetitive.

We will come only if the government moderates its duties to the international level,” Harley’s vice-president, government affairs, Timothy Hoelter, had said during his visit to India a few months ago. However, all such bikes will have to conform to the Euro III emission standards as announced in the original notification released in April.

Via: The Economic Times