Harley takes the ride to smaller cities, looks to tap North-East

Co has been placing equal emphasis on smaller cities as much as the metros

American iconic bike maker Harley-Davidson is riding on a wave of increasing popularity in smaller towns in India as it experiences a faster rate of growth in these places compared with metros.

The company, which has been hard-selling its Harley- Davidson riding experience, is now looking to tap India's North-East as part of its strategy to have presence across the country.

"Like in any other global market, our metro sales are higher in terms of volume, but we are experiencing a much faster growth rate in smaller towns in India," Harley-Davidson India Managing Director Vikram Pawah told PTI.

The company had posted sales of 2,170 units in April-September this fiscal as against 2,176 units in the same period last year.

He said the company has been placing equal emphasis on the smaller cities as much as the metros while expanding the Harley-Davidson sales network.

"Our latest showroom is in Guwahati, again another smaller city. It will serve as the hub to cater to the entire North-East region, where we believe there is a cultural sync with Harley riding experience," Pawah said.

Reiterating the significance of the smaller cities in the company's growth strategy, he said the last six new Harley-Davidson showrooms in Indian have been in such places.

Apart from showrooms in metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata, the company has now showrooms in smaller cities such as Lucknow, Nagpur, Surat, Indore, Coimbatore and Ludhiana, among others.

Pawah said demand for Harley-Davidson bikes from smaller cities is irrespective of prices as "it is more about lifestyle experience and expression of self".

Harley-Davidson sells 13 bike models in India that are priced between Rs 4.69 lakh for the entry level Street 750 model, going all the way up to Rs 49.32 lakh for the imported CVO Limited.

It assembles nine models at its Bawal facility in Haryana.