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Indian motorcycles assembled in India?

Indian Chief Dark Horse
Indian Chief Dark Horse

Indian motorcycles may be assembled in India for the local market within the next three to five years, following in the footsteps of other manufacturers.

The announcement came from Polaris India MD Pankaj Dubey at the recent opening of the Chennai Indian Motorcycle dealership, its third in the sub-continent.

The burgeoning and lucrative Indian motorcycle market has attracted several motorcycle manufacturers to open local dealerships, establish assembly factories to avoid crippling import duties and even build their bikes in India.

Iconic American manufacturer Harley-Davidson make their Street family at factories in Kansas and India and all Street 500 models imported into Australia come from the Indian plant.

Now it seems Indian Motorcycle may follow with assembly in India.

Indian Chief Dark Horse
Indian Chief Dark Horse

“We are looking at a time horizon of about 3-5 years to assemble these bikes in India,” Pankaj told Indian newspaper, The Economic Times.

He said they plan to open more dealerships in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad by October and Kochi in early 2016.

The largest Ducati store in the world is in New Delhi
The largest Ducati store in the world is in New Delhi

This follows the reintroduction of Ducati to India with the recent opening of their biggest showroom in the world in New Delhi.

India, Thailand and, to a lesser extent, Malaysia, are the emerging centres for motorcycle production with factories making or assembling bikes for BMW, Honda, Yamaha, Harley-Davidson and Triumph.

BMW's Indian motorcycle
BMW’s Indian motorcycle
  1. I’m sorry – but as much as I have tried to like the Indian, I just can’t.
    They look like the love child of an old original Indian and Vespa….
    But as the ancient Greeks put it – “De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum” .
    Stay safe

    1. Hi Brad,
      Thanks for the comments.
      And for those who don’t know, the translation is: “In matters of taste, there can be no disputes”.
      Cheers,
      Mark

      1. Latin, not Greek.

        Anyway I’m surprised because to my eyes that Indian Chief Dark Horse is one of the most beautiful bikes I’ve ever seen.

  2. Will they sell Indians for a lot less than Harleys if they make them overseas? I think its ridiculous to price them them the same as HDs. HD’s CEO makes $8 million a year; so thats a few grand extra on every bike for that reason alone. No reason for Polaris to charge the same amount for their bikes. This is why I didnt buy the Victory Cross Country in 2013. It was the exact same price as a HD ultra classic; and the HD does not depreciate as fast as the Victory; so my decision to buy the HD was a based on a business decision. If the Victory (or Indian) was priced say; $5k less than the HD; then I would buy that instead. Victory and Indian are greatly designed motorcycles. No question there. Please price your motorcycles to have a price advantage over the other brands to gain market share.

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