Harley-Davidson Inc said on Thursday it would discontinue its sales and manufacturing operations in India, effectively abandoning the world’s biggest motorcycle market after a decade of unsuccessful efforts to gain a foothold.
The move involves $75 million in restructuring costs, some 70 redundancies and the closure of its Bawal plant, walking away from a market worth about 17 million bike and scooter sales a year. It will retain only a scaled-down sales office in Gurgaon.
“As part of The Rewire, an overhaul of its operating model and market structure, the company is changing its business model in India and evaluating options to continue to serve its customers,” a press release said.
The Harley-Davidson dealer network will continue to serve customers through the contract term. “The present contract term is till December,” said Adarsh Tulsyan, proprietor of the sole Harley Davidson dealership in Calcutta.
The company has a total of 33 dealerships in the country. Tulsyan said he sold 100 motorbikes in a year on an average. “We are naturally disappointed. With the closure of the factory, the possibility of having new bikes is low. The news is yet to sink in. However, servicing of bikes continues.”
Last year, Ford Motor ceased independent operations in India by entering into a joint venture with M&M. General Motors, which stopped domestic sales in 2017, plans to stop manufacturing and exports from India by the end of this year.
