It was a moment of joy for the Indian operations of Harley-Davidson – the iconic bike manufacturer based in the US – when it was praised for its contribution to the company.
Keith Wandell, company's global CEO, in an earnings call with analysts post its Q3 results (July-September), said that India was one of the countries fuelling company's volume growth for the quarter.
"In the Q3 earnings, the CEO of the company made special mention about India globally. You see countries like India and China being called out by the CEO in the earnings, as emerging markets are important for the company," said Anoop Prakash, managing director, Harley-Davidson India.
The company recently started locally manufacturing of Street 750 at its Haryana plant, the company's second facility outside US. The aggressively priced motorcycle (Harley's first sub-Rs 5 lakh bike) is now the market leader in the 500cc and above segment, according to the company.
As per company's earnings call for the quarter ended in September, Wandell told analysts in India three out of every four Harleys sold in the third quarter were Street.
It took 3.5 years for the company to achieve a volume of 4,000 units since it entered the Indian market in 2009. With the launch of Street 750, the company has managed to sell more than 2,000 units this year.
As per the data by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturer (SIAM), the company sold 2,739 bikes during April-October, a growth of 156% compared with same period last year.
As for its international markets are concerned, Asia Pacific region reported the highest growth for the company during the period with 12.8%.
"Fuelling Asia-Pacific's growth were India, China, and other emerging markets in the region," he said.
After having witnessed a successful spell in the Indian market, the company is now gearing up for exporting from India. Harley is now ramping up its facility as it looks to add more countries for shipping its India-made Street 750.
Company's Indian manufacturing unit will now play a big role as it intends to export to developed markets like Europe, Japan, China and Australia. According to Prakash, the company has already started exports to some European countries including Spain, Portugal and Italy, while in the next phase it will cover markets in Asia and other parts of Europe. Markets like China, Japan, Australia will be covered next year, the company said.
On talks about Harley looking to manufacture its second bike – Street 500 – in India, Prakash said, "It is too early for us to take a decision. We would like to see the full year performance of Street 750."
According to industry estimates, leisure motorcycle as a segment is growing in high double-digits this year, with customers getting more choice with entry of new players.
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