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Harley Davidson coming to India
Can we remember the bike that Dharamendra and Amitabh rode in the legendary film Sholay when they sang their way to unsurpassed box-office glory - "Yeh dosti, hum nahin todenge." Anyway, the fact is when Dharamendra and Amitabh are playing their roles, the model of the bike seldom matters; they are the kind of versatile actors who will look macho even if they are riding on a rickety bicycle. But if you are Terminator, a la the beefy Arnold Schwarzenegger, then it becomes imperative for you to ride a Harley, a bike that packs enough punch to match a Terminator's beef. Arnold's body can only be matched by Harley's muscle (can you imagine him on a scooter). The two compliment each other so well that the rest of us are feuled with testesterone filled fantasies.
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The good news is that you may not have to wait long before you find real macho desis riding on India's national highways on bikes that epitomize the notions of rebellion and fast life. So can we have a new generation of Bollywood stars, lets say Shahrukh Khan and Abishek Bachan riding on a Harley and singing a soulful tune? It is quite likely. The company is planning to enter India through the CBU (completely built up) route. Since such imported bikes attract a 60% import duty, the price of Harley Davidson bikes in India is expected to be in the range of Rs 4 lakh to Rs 14 lakh. But the price factor should not worry the Bollywood guys; they are loaded anyway. If you yearn to emulate the Terminator, then you got to spend like he does and definitely hit the gym more.
Sounding bullish on India, the Harley Davidson vice-president Timothy Hoelter says, "India is among the few motorcycle markets in the world that's growing at a fast pace and we are surely looking at a presence here. Whenever we enter the Indian market, it will be through the sourcing route. Harley Davidson buyers identify our bikes to be an all-American brand and they want to buy the bikes that are produced in the US." It is a good thing that at last Harley Davidson seems to have woken up to the potential of India's sizzling bike market. Now that they are planning to start selling their mean machines out here, it is only a question of time before they wake up to the reality that says, "Hey it is much cheaper to manufacture Harley in India." And then the term outsourced could gain a whole new meaning.
We can even look forward to the scenario when Harley starts outsourcing its bikes sold in US from India. The Terminator 4 or 5 might as well ride on something made by desi hands.
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