Overview:
Other than sports bikes which we seen in last post there are three important categories you must know – classified on the basis of riding position rather than engine power they are cruiser/chopper/custom, touring and naked/street/muscle bikes. India’s Eicher Motor Royal Enfield sells about 32,000 motorcycles per year in this category. Royal Enfield offers 346cc Thunderbird, Bullet Machismo, Bullet 350, Bullet Electra and Bullet Electra 5S in India.
Cruisers/cult bikes: The riding position places the feet forward and the hands up, with the spine erect or leaning back slightly, which many find to be more comfortable for long-distance riding. Harley Davison and BMW are the important manufacturers in this category. Harley Davidson cruisers may hit India soon. Ideal Jawa which brands its vehicle under the badge Yezdi and Royal Enfield are the notable Indian players. Royal Enfield Thunderbird is the popular Indian bike in this category and the manufacturer sells about 32,000 motorcycles of 350cc and 500cc per year
Naked Bikes: as the name indicates, these are the basic form of the motorcycle stripped down to its fundamental parts. The emphasis is on functionality, performance and ergonomics rather than aerodynamic body panels and exaggerated riding positions that are most common on sport bikes. Suzuki Bandit is the popular bike in this category
Touring: meant for touring equipped with large capacity fuel tanks (for long ranges between fill-ups) and windshields (to offer a high degree of weather and wind protection)
The Indian Policy..
When US Trade Representative Susan Schwab will be visiting India in this month and in what looks like a goodwill gesture before the visit, India seems ready to allow Harley Davidson access to their market in turn India might get access in US market for their mangoes. Previously, India had not allowed HD imports because they had no regulations for engines in excess of 500cc, now, however, they will allow the big bikes to come in under the Euro III standards followed in Europe. Harley already has Indian customer who has 883cc sportster, Road King 1440cc and Diana Low Rider 1340cc. Initially, Harley is expected to roll out 883cc sportster soon it will launch vehicles which costs in the range of Rs 4 lakh – Rs 14 lakh to targets the neo rich youth of India.
Indian Scenario..
More than 7 million motorcycles sold last year in India also India is the second largest motorcycle market in the world after China. Earlier Karizma is the only bike to satisfy to thirst of Bike enthusiast in India. Now more bike manufacturers wish to offer such bikes in India. Bajaj has decided to stop producing 100cc bikes it wishes to offer high end product such as Pulsar 200cc and Pulsar 220cc. Hero Honda is getting good response for its Fuel Injection bike Glamour FI. But that was not enough for Harley, India is basically a price sensitive market and ever raising fuel prices makes customers to go for fuel efficient bikes.
Tough road ahead for Harley..
Price of the smallest Harleys, the 883cc powered Sportster, is more than $6,600 (Rs. 2.9 lakh) in the US. If it brings this smallest bike to India that price will shoot up to Rs 4lakh because of more than 100% tariff. For that price Indians can buy a car here the cheapest car available in India today costs Rs 2 lakh; by next year, the country will have one that costs half that, made by Tata Motors. Don’t be pessimistic these are the usual outcry, this happened when Mercedes landed in India. But you will see BMW and Volkswagen cars in Indian roads soon with ‘made in India’ tag.
Not only price affects Harley’s Indian foray it is not able to meet the technical requirements too. Indian two wheeler norms are already one to the tightest to follow and with new auto fuel policy which will be imposed by 2008; India will become the toughest market for two wheeler manufacturers to comply. Harley Davidson emits almost 6 times more than the permissible emission for two wheelers. For CSE – Centre of Science and Environment report on Harley Davidson.
India’s Premium bike Market:
Harley-Davidson itself does not expect to sell too many motorcycles in India, it hopes to import only 2,000 of its products to India over the next three years. Whether Harley foray will be successful or not one man is happy – Eicher group CEO Siddhartha Lal. He plans to sell bikes with engine size as high as 500 cc to 625 cc to grab the upmarket segment. He says “from a competitive standpoint, Harley’s entry will have no impact on us because we do not operate in the same segment. But it does enhance the profile of leisure motorcycling in the country and we could actually benefit”. Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa, Yamaha YZF R1, Kawasaki ZX12R Ninja and Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird are the popular imported sports bike in India.