Hero MotoCorp Is Harley’s Indian Hero
A while back Harley-Davidson announced it was pulling out of India. Not long after that, it came out that Hero MotoCorp could help the company stay in operation in India by doing distribution and more.
The last I heard the two companies were still hashing out the details. Now, according to GaadiWaadi, the two companies came to an agreement. Hero will handle the operations for Harley-Davidson. This deal includes sales, service, and retail of its parts, accessories, riding apparel, and general merchandise.
This will all be done through Harley’s existing dealerships as well as Hero’s dealerships. Hero will also now assemble and retail Harley bikes under license.
This doesn’t sound like a bad deal for either company. Harley gets to stay in India and have even more of a force there and Hero gets to work with a brand name that would help it break into a new segment, the premium motorcycle segment, which is something it’s been trying to do for some time now.
Harley will still cease operations of some of its facilities in India, and let Hero pick up the slack. Hero said the following in a statement: “This arrangement is mutually beneficial for both companies and riders in India, as it brings together the iconic Harley-Davidson brand with the strong distribution network and customer service of Hero MotoCorp.”
I’m looking forward to where this goes, and seeing if Harley and Hero can make this deal work. It sounds like it could be a smart fix.