Harley Davidson exits India

Harley Davidson exits India

The brand was witnessing poor sales and weak demand.

Harley Davidson

Harley-Davidson will shut down manufacturing and sales operations in India as part of its restructuring exercise under ‘The Rewire’ programme, the US-based motorcycle maker announced on Thursday.

Earlier, in August, the bike maker had indicated to restructure business in some its loss making international markets to reroute focus on the US market. The move is going to increase the restructuring costs to 169 million dollars.

Covid2019 is the key reason behind this decision as the brand was witnessing poor sales and weaker demand. Media reports say that Harley-Davidson India sold less than 2,500 units in the last financial year, making it one of its worst-performing international markets. SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) figures mention that Harley-Davidson sold only 103 units of motorcycles in India in July 2020 and 176 units last month in the country. Indian market contributed to only 5 per cent of the brands overall sales.

The bike maker will be laying off employees from its assembly unit in Haryana.

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Harley-Davidson joins the growing list of automotive brands, such as General Motors, Fiat, UM Motorcycles and others which have exited India in the past.