Curtains down on Harley Davidson in India

The iconic and cult American motorcycle maker has finally decided to exit the Indian market, effectively abandoning the world’s biggest motorcycle market after a decade of unsuccessful efforts to gain a foothold.

The company had announced in July that it plans to exit international markets as part of its global rewire strategy to cut costs and focus on key markets for maximum impact. Since February this year Harley-Davidson has been on the lookout for an India partner and the company has been in talks with Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and Mahindra. Harley Davidson has not confirmed if it is still in talks for a strategic partnership for the India market. There are reports that the company is expecting partnership with Hero MotoCorp.

The motorcycle giant also announced that it would also be reducing staff in its India office.

Harley, which entered India in 2010 has sold over 25,000 units in ten years. The India exit comes due to low sales volumes. The company produced 236 units and sold 176 units in India in August. Harley reported a decline of 64 percent in sales during the April-August period.

Harley-Davidson, which has approximately 25 outlets in India, has informed dealer partners that it would not be renewing contracts after December 31 this year.

The departure is also the latest setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strategy to encourage domestic manufacturing that would keep more of the fruits of a gigantic home consumer market in India.