dna catches up with Anoop Prakashan, MD, Harley Davidson India, who has good news in store for Pune bike-lovers
Having worked with the Bush administration and other private-sector firms on matters of strategy and business development for several years, Anoop Prakashan, managing director of Harley Davidson, India, never saw his career taking such a turn. But give him a look of surprise and all you’ll see is a man who couldn’t be happier with the way things have turned out. “I grew up in Mid West US, in the Minnesota region, where the Harley Davidson headquarters is based. So I grew up in that culture and when one of my old business-school friends told me about this opportunity, I grabbed it,” he said with a smile.
It was in August 2009, that the iconic biking company commenced its operations in India through a wholly-owned subsidiary – Harley-Davidson Motor Company, India. Thereafter what followed was an extensive study of the market and finding dealers, distributors, partners and workforce.
The company appointed its first dealership in July 2010, and since early 2011 has been assembling motorcycles in India at its Completely-knocked-down (CKD) assembly unit in Bawal, Haryana. “It was important to move the price down through CKD. So the price of an 800cc bike, whose imported price was approximately Rs7 lakh was lowered to Rs5.5-5.6 lakh after it was assembled locally. In that year, we launched three models, and after that every year we have been introducing three models each,” he added. The brand currently offers a range of 13 models from each of its 5 families – Sportster, Dyna, Softail, V-Rod and Touring.
Most of the customers of Harley Davidson worldwide are between the age group of 30-45 years with a strong obsession of owning bikes. “There are a lot of Harley Davidson clubs consisting of die-hard fans of the bike and its history. We are also happy to see that most of our customers are upgrading from Royal Enfield, because they know owning a Harley is a different experience altogether,” he said.
Prakashan has also tried to build the culture that Harley Davidson is known for through its many initiatives. “It’s not just the bikes that people are interested in buying, but the whole aura around it that they want to be associated with. For instance, Harley has a long history with rock’n’roll. Elvis Presley, Jimmy Hendrix and Bob Dylan all owned one. To keep the culture around it intact, we have been organising Harley Rock Riders for four years, where we have been giving independent rock bands an opportunity and the exposure to showcase their talent,” Prakash said.
With nine authorised dealerships in India (Mumbai, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kochi and Goa), the firm plans to extend to Pune (Amanora Town Center), Jaipur and Indore by December. “Pune is known for its biking culture and there are over a 100 Harley bikers in the city. With its first Harley Davidson showroom in the city, it is all set to become a bikers’ hub,” he said.
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