To be introduced in India between $16,000-$40,000.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: American motorcycles manufacturer “Indian” is getting in gear to ride into the very country that it’s named after.
One of the so-called “super bike” companies, the Indian is relatively late to the party in India. At least eight other such manufacturers have already made a name for themselves on the subcontinent – Harley-Davidson, Suzuki, BMW, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Ducati, and Triumph – and have seen success in the Indian market.
The bikes these companies sell aren’t cheap, and typically retail for anywhere between Rs. 10-60 lakh, but consumers are buying regardless of the high price tag. Over the last five years, the super bike market has increased to nearly 3,000 units per annum, tripling from where it was during the mid-2000s. Indian is hoping to capitalize on this rabid market base.
Owned by Polaris, which is known for its off-road leisure vehicles, Indian is setting up its first dedicated showroom in Gurgaon. Its bikes are expected to sell at Rs. 10-25 lakh, putting them on the lower end of the price scale and, as they hope, making them more palatable to consumers. Polaris, which is worth $3.2 billion, entered the Indian market in 2011, but this is their first sub-continental venture with super bikes.
Founded in 1901 in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Indian brand was one of the largest selling bikes in America until it shut down in 1953. It was subsequently revived 10 years later by Floyd Clymer imports until they went bankrupt in 1977, and several other attempts proved unsuccessful. In 2006, it was finally brought back to life by Stellican Ltd., a London-based private equity firm, and was then bought by Polaris in 2011.
The brand is perhaps known as the titular bike in the 2005 film The World’s Fastest Indian, a biopic of legendary New Zealand speed demon Burt Munro starring Academy Award-winner Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs).
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com