Harley-Davidson has dropped a bomb on the motorcycle world by announcing its ‘More Roads to Harley-Davidson’ growth plan through 2022, under which the iconic cruiser manufacturer will launch a new range of products, including an adventure-tourer and an all-new motorcycle with a capacity ranging between 250cc-500cc for both India and other Asian markets.
The company has announced that it will launch a new modular platform that can spawn motorcycles with engine capacities ranging from 500cc to 1250cc after it launches its electric motorcycle - the LiveWire - in 2019. These motorcycles will span across three different product spaces and four displacements, including an all-new adventure tourer, called the Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250, a 1250 Custom and smaller 975cc Streetfighter, all of which are slated to launch in 2020. Additional models will follow through by 2022.
However, the more exciting news comes from the company’s decision of introducing a 250cc-500cc platform for the Asian market with the help of a "planned strategic alliance with a manufacturer in Asia". While the partner has not been named yet, the focus is clearly on India. Hence, a partner from the sub-continent would make the most sense. Indian players have already proved their mettle in manufacturing global-spec mid-displacement motorcycles, such as Bajaj with KTM, and TVS with BMW.
A tie-up with Hero MotoCorp would seem most obvious and logical considering the manufacturing prowess Hero has. That said, officials from Hero MotoCorp we’ve reached out to have denied this possibility. So the question of H-D’s partnership still remains open. Harley has not put a date on this product line, but we expect these motorcycles to be launched by 2021 or 2022.
Meanwhile, the company will continue its development in the Touring and Cruiser segment to bring "improved and more technologically-advanced" products into the market.
Harley-Davidson also shared some vague details about expanding the way it reaches customers. This means better dealership network, improved retail experience, smaller stores for urban areas and more.
With all said and done, we're still some years away from seeing any of this happening. But Harley's future does look interesting. We'll be sure to bring you more coverage of this. Until then, stay tuned for more updates.
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