Harley Davidson-Another Icon Fails

[dave lackey]

Ah, yes, globalization has now come to the heartland. What will all the bikers think now? I, for one, thought HD was better than this.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/04/india.bikes/index.html?hpt=C2

 

[Nikon Bob]

I don't know about that. There is no sense in building the second plant in the USA with the 80% import duties to India which is limiting the market for HD in India. At least in this way HD may get to expand it's market in India and possibly have to increase production in the USA if demand in India picks up.

Bob

 

[mbisc]

With the (excessive) import duties in India, that's a pretty standard approach by car manufacturers as well. All the components are manufactured abroad, and they are just shipped as kits in big boxes to India, where the components are "merged" by adding a couple of screws. None of these bikes are going to make it back to the US -- so this has nothing to do with (perceived) "evils of globalization." It's just a way to get around the Indian import restrictions and red tape...

 

[dave lackey]

The point being missed is the pride that HD has tauted all these past two decades where the employees bought the company back, moved forward to the pinnacle of success and every biker these days seems to think that it is ALL, 100%, American Motorcycle made in the good ol' USA!. Now, the hawgs they will be riding in the future will be made in India!

Sort of makes a mockery of the Japanese bikes hung up in the trees at Bike Week in Daytona!

 

[mbisc]

The point being missed is the pride that HD has tauted all these past two decades where the employees bought the company back, moved forward to the pinnacle of success and every biker these days seems to think that it is ALL, 100%, American Motorcycle made in the good ol' USA!. Now, the hawgs they will be riding in the future will be made in India!

Sort of makes a mockery of the Japanese bikes hung up in the trees at Bike Week in Daytona!

Actually, with all due respect, but you are missing the point here, The parts for the HD bikes sold in India will still be made in the good-olde USA, but will be shipped to India in large crates, so that HD can claim "final assembly" in India in order to avoid the ridiculous import duties. They are not going make any parts there (other than maybe screws and fasteners), and the are not going to ship parts back to the US.

As I said earlier, car manufacturers such as VW/Skoda, Mercedes and others do exactly the same thing.

On an related note, how well they will be able to compete with Royal Enfields (which still makes ancient British bikes in Tamil Nadu that look similar to HDs) remains to be seen. I would guess that HD and Royal Enfield will have very different price points for their bikes...

 

[robklurfield]

this might still be standing, but the pic is at least 25 years old.

 

[dave lackey]

Actually, with all due respect, but you are missing the point here, The parts for the HD bikes sold in India will still be made in the good-olde USA, but will be shipped to India in large crates, so that HD can claim "final assembly" in India in order to avoid the ridiculous import duties. They are not going make any parts there (other than maybe screws and fasteners), and the are not going to ship parts back to the US.

As I said earlier, car manufacturers such as VW/Skoda, Mercedes and others do exactly the same thing.

On an related note, how well they will be able to compete with Royal Enfields (which still makes ancient British bikes in Tamil Nadu that look similar to HDs) remains to be seen. I would guess that HD and Royal Enfield will have very different price points for their bikes...

Whoa, the POINT that is being missed was MY point as an ex-biker. Not the economic situation that you are interested in... sorry about that communication.

MY point was that every biker I have ever known...not the poseurs...have never liked anything but the good ol' American iron... but what THEY forget is what YOU mentioned... the times are a'changing.😛

 

[JoeV]

The second factory is for the Indian market. Kind of like Toyota assembling cars for the N.A. market in the States, using Japanese-supplied parts. In this case, H.D. will be using American-made parts, assembled in India. There may also be some protectionist trade policies at work here, forcing H.D. to build a factory on-continent in order to compete.

For those of us in the States who've struggled with job loss and the economy in general, we need to take this to heart. Other countries are not shy about enacting legislation that protects their domestic job markets. We need to do the same. Choose your political party of preference wisely (although, in actuality, both major parties in the US are guilty; remember the vote for NAFTA?)

This is good news, actually. It means H.D. is becoming a global manufacturer of motorcycles, like many of the other Japanese brands have been for years. It also means that our US-centric view of the world needs to shift. The disposable income in countries like India and the PRC are now approaching the levels where high-value leisure goods like Harleys have new markets to penetrate.

One other comment, Harley is an American brand icon, this news is reaffirmation that American culture is one of our biggest exports.

~Joe

 

[Roger Hicks]

Whoa, the POINT that is being missed was MY point as an ex-biker. Not the economic situation that you are interested in... sorry about that communication.

MY point was that every biker I have ever known...not the poseurs...have never liked anything but the good ol' American iron... but what THEY forget is what YOU mentioned... the times are a'changing.😛

Dear Dave,

Your definition of 'poseur' must be fairly rigorous if it includes me. When -- in the 1980s after 20 years of riding -- I finally tried HDs, I couldn't believe how bad they were (new Tour Glide and Sportster). Pretty, yes. But for actually riding, instead of posing, I'd rather have my 1978 BMW R100RS, or an Enfield Bullet of any vintage (looks and sounds better than a Harley, too), or even the LE Velocette I used to have. Then again, I'm not an ex-motorcyclist... Does this tell you anything about the pleasures of riding bikes other than Harleys?

Cheers,

R.