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Harley Davidson stormed into India exactly two years ago in the Auto Expo 2010. I still remember my meeting with Harley Davidson India MD, Mr Anoop PRAKASH and what he said still rings loud in my ears: "Harley Davidson is the only company in India who have created a fully owned subsidiary without selling a single motorcycle!" Yes, that was true. And they took some very smart steps that ensured that Harley remained at the forefront of the "Big" bike scene in India.
Organisation of events, customer rides, bike-ride movies, national rugby tournaments, pan India rock concerts; they did brand building and brand promotion in a way that no other company did and they truly tried to touch the emotional quotient of the community that was willing to ride and was also willing to pay and was capable of paying. All of this put together Harley managed to strike a winning equation that set their ball rolling.
And then to maintain that inertia and keep the numbers running and the bikes in motion they are constantly trying to innovate newer and fresher methods that seem simple but help in going a long way. One of the things that we know is getting the duty element lower. Harley has now started manufacturing CKD units in India. And they have added two more bikes to that CKD list making it 5 bikes in all.
The Super Glide Custom CKD Unit.
Street Bob CKD Unit.
I believe that at the CKD rate of 9.95L, the Street Bob is a steal!
The second element that they have introduced is the customisation. Harley managed to think of adding this as a feature that existing customers could use to express their personal identities. Harley Davidson today offers very high quality customised paint jobs that is being made available to the customers. Five such bikes were custom painted and prepared by Harley Davidson and put up on display. And when such bikes were on display and they put on good old American rock and roll music, they stole the show just as one would imagine Harley to do!
The Custom Paint jobs
Sanjay TRIPATHI in his usual affable self took time out for a few moments to explain to me what he was up to these days and how Harley was doing and what they were doing to keep the momentum in their favour. It was good to meet him after quite a while. I forgot to ask him though if he still rides his R1! Though that has got nothing to do with the kind of numbers that Harley is proudly doing.
And apparently as the grapevine goes, Harley is doing 90 bikes a month! I am not sure of the verity of such figures. But I am pretty sure that the truth is not far from what the grapevine suggests and for the kind of efforts that they are putting in, I am not surprised at such stupendous numbers. And they would continue to do so if they keep bringing in the goodies and continue ever changing events that keep the customer involved.
Text and Photos: Krishnendu/KEN
Organisation of events, customer rides, bike-ride movies, national rugby tournaments, pan India rock concerts; they did brand building and brand promotion in a way that no other company did and they truly tried to touch the emotional quotient of the community that was willing to ride and was also willing to pay and was capable of paying. All of this put together Harley managed to strike a winning equation that set their ball rolling.
And then to maintain that inertia and keep the numbers running and the bikes in motion they are constantly trying to innovate newer and fresher methods that seem simple but help in going a long way. One of the things that we know is getting the duty element lower. Harley has now started manufacturing CKD units in India. And they have added two more bikes to that CKD list making it 5 bikes in all.
The Super Glide Custom CKD Unit.
Street Bob CKD Unit.
I believe that at the CKD rate of 9.95L, the Street Bob is a steal!
The second element that they have introduced is the customisation. Harley managed to think of adding this as a feature that existing customers could use to express their personal identities. Harley Davidson today offers very high quality customised paint jobs that is being made available to the customers. Five such bikes were custom painted and prepared by Harley Davidson and put up on display. And when such bikes were on display and they put on good old American rock and roll music, they stole the show just as one would imagine Harley to do!
The Custom Paint jobs
Sanjay TRIPATHI in his usual affable self took time out for a few moments to explain to me what he was up to these days and how Harley was doing and what they were doing to keep the momentum in their favour. It was good to meet him after quite a while. I forgot to ask him though if he still rides his R1! Though that has got nothing to do with the kind of numbers that Harley is proudly doing.
And apparently as the grapevine goes, Harley is doing 90 bikes a month! I am not sure of the verity of such figures. But I am pretty sure that the truth is not far from what the grapevine suggests and for the kind of efforts that they are putting in, I am not surprised at such stupendous numbers. And they would continue to do so if they keep bringing in the goodies and continue ever changing events that keep the customer involved.
Text and Photos: Krishnendu/KEN
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