As a part of “Make in India” campaign and to target competition from both Harley Davidson and Triumph, Polaris India is planning to set things in motion to commence local production of Indian Motorcycles.
Local production will allow Polaris India to price bikes much below the INR 10 lakh mark, as against their most affordable offering currently – Indian Scout which is priced at INR 12 lakhs. They also have bikes on offer which go on to cost as much as Rs 40 lakhs on road. In spite of this, their sales are increasing, but not in the same league as Harley Davidson and Triumph.
Of the three, Indian is the newest in India. But if they manage to start local production and increase localisation levels, they could become leaders in the 800cc plus cruiser segment in India. For now, this decision to increase localisation is yet not confirmed. But, the company has already started studying market situation and its competitor’s strategies.
Harley Davidson and Triumph, both have already CKD operations in India. This has resulted in them offering motorcycles with increased localisation levels and to bring the starting price of their entry level motorcycle in the Rs 4.5 lakh and Rs 5.5 lakh range, respectively.
As on date, Polaris India imports bikes and sells them as completely built units (CBUs); from their manufacturing facility in Minnesota US. The import of motorcycles with engines above 800cc attracts import duty to the tune of 75% which pushes up prices considerably. Polaris India launched three models – Classic, Vintage and Chieftain last year all priced from INR 26.5 to 33 lakhs while the new Scout is priced at INR 11.99 lakhs.
Apart from this, Polaris India is also thinking of dealership expansion. The company currently has two dealerships – one each in Delhi and Bangalore. Now, they plan to add four more dealerships, all this year. These will come up in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Mumbai; over the course of the next few months. By 2016, their plan is to have a total of 12 dealerships across the country.
via ETAuto.com
