Harley rumbling out of India
Iconic US cycle company gives up after more than a decade of weak sales
NEW DELHI — Bhupender Singh crouched over a fuel tank inside a HarleyDavidson showroom. A row of motorcycles gleamed in the afternoon sun; one metallic red, another with a black matte finish and a slightly taller variant in blue.
The motorcycles were not for sale, but for repair. The dealership’s front door was locked. Harley-Davidson, the proudly American company, is giving up on India because of weak sales, after more than a decade of pursuing a huge but ultimately frustrating place to do business.
“It’s all over now,” said Singh, a service representative. “There are no bikes to sell anymore.”
The closure has dealt a blow to India’s ambitions to lure manufacturers, a campaign modeled on China’s success called “Make in India.” It has set back Harley
Davidson’s efforts to expand its popularity overseas.
Companies looking for the next boom have long eyed India, a country of 1.3 billion with an aspirational middle class. Setting up shop there, however, remains difficult. Roads and rails are inadequate in many areas. Land policies flummox construction. India’s red tape is infamous.
In his “Make in India” campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to cut bureaucratic hurdles, invest in infrastructure and take other steps to draw high-end manufacturing jobs and design work.
Even before the pandemic, the campaign had been disappointing. Manufacturing contributes less to India’s economic output than it did a decade ago. The government has struggled to build an ecosystem for manufacturers, including infrastructure and industrial parks. Small suppliers who might help a big manufacturer flesh out a supply chain have a hard time getting credit.
“Harley came to produce for your market,” said C.P. Chandrasekhar, an economist and ex-professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. “If they’re not happy, they’ll just get up and leave.”