Hero MotoCorp to sell Harley Davidson motorcycles in India: Deal to be signed this month

Harley-Davidson announced the end of its manufacturing operations and sales in India last month. However, the brand will not exit the Indian market completely. Since Harley Davidson will keep on selling motorcycles in the Indian market, it is likely to sign an agreement with Hero MotoCorp later this week, as per sources.

The sources confirmed that Harley-Davidson will sign Hero MotoCorp as an exclusive distributor for the imported Harley-Davidson bikes into India from Thailand. It should be noted that the Harley-Davidson’s plant in Bawal, Haryana was the first plant of the brand outside the USA. However, dwindling sales and popularity of Harley-Davidson in India has caused them to wrap up the manufacturing facility. Harley Davidson used to manufacture the Street 750 and Street 500 in India. The Street 500 was only for the export markets.

Hero MotoCorp and Harley Davidson have been officially talking for a long time now. According to CNBC-TV18, Hero was looking for a partnership that is more than just distribution of the Harley-Davidson bikes. However, it is not known what kind of deal will be finalised by both the brands in the coming times. Hero’s immediate focus will be only distribution and managing the Harley-Davidson’s 33 outlets in India. The source also added that Harley-Davidson is looking to offer all the models in its line-up in India. At a later date, contract manufacturing or technology transfer between the two automobile giants may happen too.

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Both the brands are likely to sign the deal by the end of this month. Since Harley-Davidson has decided to pull out of the Indian market, Hero MotoCorp will become the brand’s new distributor and will take care of the business part of the brand.

There are many Harley Davidson dealerships, who are facing immense issues after the official exit plan was revealed by the brand. A dealership said that he was able to sell only 3-4 bikes after the announcement happened last month. Harley-Davidson has already communicated to its dealerships that if Harley-Davidson fails to get a distribution deal in India by the end of this year, the contracts will be renewed for one more year.

The exact details of the agreement should come by the end of this week when both the giants will sign the deal. Hero MotoCorp is the world’s largest tw0-wheeler manufacturer and there are several other countries where Hero is present and flourishing.

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