US motorcycle brand, Harley-Davidson is stopping manufacturing and massively scaling back its sales operations in India by this month. Their inability to continue operations in India in the face of uncertain market conditions has left the bike owners to fend for themselves.
Harley’s departure involves $75m (£59m) in restructuring costs, around 70 redundancies and the closure of its Bawal plant in northern India. The plant was opened in 2011 but Harley-Davidson has struggled to compete with local brand Hero as well as Japan’s Honda.
Harley’s exit may not have a significant economic impact, but is bad optics for the Modi government, which is preparing to roll out a $23bn package to lure global manufacturers to set up base in India as part of the country’s ‘Make In India’ policy.