[TusharK]

Earlier this year, Harley-Davidson announced that it was pulling out of the Indian market. The company has now released a short video to celebrate the bond that the company shares with India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHFKD9SJBiY

In the video, the narrator asks why is Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson? Is it the thumping sound of the engine? Is it the brotherhood or is it the vehicular embodiment of freedom.

According to Harley, the answer to this question is simple. It is the rider who makes Harley-Davidson what it is.

In the end, the company wishes everyone a safe and strong riding experience in 2021.

Link to Team-BHP News

[akshaysawant]

What Harley says is absolutely correct, its you who makes Harley-Davidson, but what they did not understand correctly is the Indian market. I wish Harley would have put efforts to understand us and we would have forever loved to have you. Actually more competition is expected in cruiser and lifestyle bike segment. I do not think this segment has even seen half of its potential. Common Hondas, Yamahas and Bajajs!!! Spice up the segment a bit...

[payeng]

Contrary to the Popular Opinion, it's Harley's decade long poor performance in its major markets and NOT its Indian subsidiary Performance, that has led it's ultimate pull back from India.

Harley's been bleeding badly for over a decade it its major markets. Its a matter of survival for them. That's why the restructuring.

Imagine had Royal Enfield continuously been under losses for 10 years in India. How enthusiastic would RE be in exploring export markets in that case?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Future mainstay of Harley Davidson range in India will be designed and built by Hero Motocorp to be sold under the Harley Davidson brand name.

In that context - the 'Harley-Davidson' element in the future 'Harley Davidson' in India will be such marketing campaigns they feed to the minds of the riders.

[srini1785]

Pinch the baby and rock the cradle too.

HD is a typical American company. Huge investments and an expectation of equally quick huge returns. No wonder not many American companies survive in India. GM, Ford now HD.

Yeah bye bye.

[DriverNo.420]

This is a great video but did you guys noticed that at 1:41 timestamp of the video, the editor used Inline 4 engine sound for a revving Harley?

[playingpossum]

Originally Posted by payeng

Contrary to the Popular Opinion, it's Harley's decade long poor performance in its major markets and NOT its Indian subsidiary Performance, that has led it's ultimate pull back from India.

I agree. Harley has been trying to get into newer markets but they've repeatedly messed it up by alienating their current buyer demographics.

This video always comes to mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOwxxsPaogY

[AutoDowntowner]

Wonderful video indeed. HD is going GM way with "Strategy of Shrinking". They are pulling off from few other markets too.

[saikarthik]

It might sound a bit harsh, but in my opinion why is Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson?

Over priced, less performance and purely riding on the foregone legacy compared to competition. They never evolved to market's change with time. Yes, there were some new promises but not living up to expectation.

And that's why they had to shut the shop down or handover the keys to someone else.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Future mainstay of Harley Davidson range in India will be designed and built by Hero Motocorp to be sold under the Harley Davidson brand name.

Originally Posted by saikarthik

And that's why they had to shut the shop down or handover the keys to someone else.

IMO they might actually do better than Harley by launching more practical and VFM motorcycles.
I really hope they get rid of the "pushrod" mindset and manufacture good motorcycles that enthusiasts will appreciate rather than fanboys.

If Hero can get some practicality into new motorcycles, we all can behold the Hero Davidson

[V.Narayan]

The dealers whose investments were left in a lurch must be thrilled with this emotive video. The customers whose brakes did not function as advertised must be touched by the video. Hey so what if we lost our investment of Rs XXX crores, so what if the damn brakes don't work, so what if spares will be harder to obtain, hey man we have the video.

With apologies to the Hindi film Deewar, "tere pas kya hai, motor cycle hai, lack of spares hain, aur mere paas video hain". When you have a video who needs spares, ASS etc. Hail Harley, sell only to those countries with an ageing population.

[marcussantiago]

Anyone else feel that video was deeply cringe-worthy and hollow? Like it's trying way too hard to stir emotions. It feels like a fan-made video written by a teenager.

Anyway, it's fascinating to see the fall of H-D in India. They stuck to their "we're too elite for the common man" snobbery, when anyone with sense knows that Harleys are just American Royal Enfields in every sense (except REs are somewhat affordable, and now RE's actually evolving and trying new things). Yesterday's technology at tomorrow's prices and all that.

It's interesting how they got in this rut because they opted to continually please their traditionalist aging Boomer fanbase who thought Harley adding fuel gauges and liquid cooling or working with Porsche was "Harley selling their soul" and all that. And now Harley's tossed the keys to a commuter bike manufacturer and duct-taping H-D badges onto 338-cc single cylinder Chinese commuter bikes, and are patting themselves on the back.

The funny thing is, the traditionalists were right about a few things. Harley does actually "mean" something. Some badges do have what some would call a soul. It's the same thing as RE's iconic thump, or Triumph's British-ness, or the red on a Ferrari.

Bearing half the blame for this is that same insatiably angry purist crowd who have been screaming about Harley "selling their soul" since the 1970s every time Harley tried to evolve (for example, Harley makes the V-Rod with Porsche and these lose their minds that "it's not a REAL Harley").

Harley bears the rest of the blame for actually listening to them. And all this has led to them actually going and selling their soul.

[abnormalspirit]

I feel the premium cruiser bike segment is slowly dying in India, Buyers are interested in touring, adventure or sports bikes moreover there poor service network and dealership in tire 2 and 3 city's