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5.5L price cut that is a serious discount for anyone interested in any of these bikes, great news for all of us as this will make other brands to seriously think about doing something on similar lines. Customer will be the eventual winner

I am very impressed with what Harley has done in India so far.
Way to go Harley. 3 cheers to you guys for thinking more about the biker & less about your balance sheet.
Good wishes.

Nice move,but IMO its still not that substantial a price cut.The soft tail family will continue with the astronomical tag,being completely out of reach to average Joes.
But then again its not that everyone buys a harley,specially a soft tail classic

I heard from a Harley owner that the price cut will be throughout the range. Even Iron and Superlow will see a price cut.

They haven't done it "for the biker" or goodwill. They have started assembly in india, which means they have to pay a lot less for customs duty. Harley's profit margin would be similar to what it was before the price cut.

It only makes sense. As the assembly of those bikes is moved to India even they will attract less duty and cost lesser by the same logic.

I agree to your point, but what I meant was that Harley's original plans were to assemble only the sportster which is still their single largest selling bike in India. But, they have made the bold move to start assembly of the Dyna & Softail range that presently sell in low numbers. I also agree in an assembly plant when you start a few new lines it definitley needs more investment which has to be made up with higher sales over a longer period. But in a market when you see the others namely Ducati, BMW (and ofcourse triumph which is still lost somewhere in translation!) etc which are all out of reach for many many Indians, Harley have been doing things well. Even sponsoring the IBW was a Harley initiative irrespective of the fact its a marketing tool.

Why dont Yamaha & Honda (which already have huge factories) start assembly and slash their R1 & CBR prices to sub 10 lacs? I am sure at this price bracket they will have enough numbers to justify their investment, but there has to be the will to do it!

Agreed with the first point.

About other manufacturers, your claims are all based on vague assumptions and your gut-feeling. IMO, The market for > 2L bikes isn't big enough in India. Duke 200 sold less than 10k units in a whole year and that costs under 1.5L, so you can imagine how many units a 8+ lakh bike will sell. Probably not enough to justify the setup cost in a medium term, which is why they haven't started assembly here. I'm sure Yamaha, Honda and the others are all open to that possibility as well if it makes business sense to them. I mean they are bike manufacturing giants for decades now and i would imagine that if there's an opportunity to for money to be made, they will gladly take it.

Tend to agree with Haroon. As far as I know, there are just 3000+ HDs in India and they have started local assembly of so many models (9 to be precise). While the numbers are important, the commitment and focus on India market in long run is more important. It is a luxury market and I don't understand why Yamaha or Honda or Suzuki are not able to capitalize on this growth story. Probably Kawasaki is the only other doing good here.

Continuing from where Srisetty rightly explained above, most of us will remember that atleast 2-3 years prior to the Japanese officially selling their big bikes in India, they always showcased one high end model at the expos to wet our palettes among all their commuter bikes and the company top shots had one standard (& sic) line "Yeah big bikes are in our future plans". Finally, when one of them introduced (cant remember, guess it was Yamaha), all the others immediately joined the bandwagon with their offerings. Ofcourse, it is common knowledge that the company cash registers tick the world over for the big jap manufacturers from small capacity bikes sold in large nos and not the big bore bikes. However, from a luxury goods market size, India is considered something like Spain, Portugal etc (before their present economic recession ofcourse). But, I would personally say sub 10 lacs today is not the super luxury class. With bank loans & smarter personal wealth management etc, it is still manageable for a passionate salaried person and does not have to necessarily be the son of a wealthy businessman or MNC CEO or whatever. Again please consider the salaried person in the right perspective and dont include all & sundry.

Starting off from a middle class background, the way I see it- the best thing Harley has done for which I sincerely commend them is that many a guys/gals who are not the proverbial "born with a silver spoon type" are also today able to afford a Harley in India (check Harley owners for yourself). And that is a big step for true bikers in this country. Even the 650 offerings from Kawasaki have enough takers. Its the long term commitment thats most important for a bike manufacturer's success in India.

its good news.... now more and more HD lovers can ride it.

Market for big motorcycles is always small compared to smaller bikes in most countries. If I am not wrong then either in Europe or US, the sales of 125cc two wheelers were the highest last year or so.

Here in our country, brands like KTM will find it hard to sell well at least initially. It is not always about high cost involved with big bikes. A brand's popularity also plays a major role in good sales. Harley and the japs are much more popular in India and worldwide as well. Even with the manufacturing and marketing support of Bajaj, it will take time for people to take note of KTM especially with the less enthusiast biker. Also, KTMs are more concentrated motorcycles unlike the japs that are more all-rounders. KTMs are very edgy by design combined with bright colors, they have more specific fan base compared to the japs and the Harleys.

I hope to see a plant in India soon so that we can get the bikes in a decent price.

Harley-Davidson to assemble three models in India, price cut by Rs 4.55 lakh

US motorbike-maker Harley-Davidson on Monday said it will start assembling three more models in India that will result in slashing of prices by up to Rs 4.55 lakh, close on the heels of the government increasing customs duty on imported superbikes in the Budget.

The company's Indian arm Harley Davidson India will now assemble the Fat Boy, Fat Boy Special and Heritage Softail Classic models at its Bawal facility in Haryana.

The Harley-Davidson Fat Boy will now be available at Rs 14.9 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) as against the previous imported price of Rs 19.45 lakh. Similarly, Fat Boy Special will cost Rs 15.6 Lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) as against the previous imported price of 19.70 lakh.

The Heritage Softail Classic model will be tagged at Rs 16.25 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) as against Rs 20.45 lakh earlier.

Commenting on the development, Harley-Davidson India managing director Anoop Prakash told PTI: "Since we entered India in 2009, we have been consistent with our plans have more local assembly of our products and make them accessible to more enthusiasts and customers across the country. The CKD operations of the three models is another step towards it."

The company now has 9 out of 12 models that it sells in India locally assembled.

When asked if the company planned to assemble all the models that it sells in India, he said: "It is not possible for a long time to come. Our flagship 'Touring Family' has its own heritage, we want to maintain it and moreover the market for it hasn't developed yet here in India."

On the Budget announcement, Mr Prakash said, "Our CKD (completely knocked down) operation allows us to contribute to local investment while also reducing the tariff burden for customers across India."

The impact on pricing will be minimal due to the company's steady focus on developing CKD operations in India since early 2011, he added.

In the Budget 2013-14, Finance Minister P Chidambaram proposed to hike import duty on bikes with engine capacity of 800 cc or more from to 75 per cent from 60 per cent.

On the sales growth, Mr Prakash said the company is expecting "a double digit" increase in 2013. Since 2010, when it started selling its bikes in India, the company has sold over 2,000 motorcycles.

Source: Harley-Davidson to assemble three models in India, price cut by Rs 4.55 lakh - NDTVProfit.com