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Iconic American superbike brand Indian expects the market to go up as the company expands its dealer network in the country.
Opening its fourth dealership in India at Hyderabad, Polaris India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Polaris Industries Inc, said it plans to take the dealership network to six shortly and to 12 by next year.
The Hyderabad dealership of Indian Motrocycle would be followed by centres in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The first one was launched in India in 2014 at Gurgaon and two more were added at Bangalore and Chennai, Pankaj Dubey, Managing Director of Polaris India, said.
Polaris Industries inc., which is known for its off-riders, had acquired Indian in 2011.
“We feel great when we meet someone who says my family owns an Indian for 60-70 years. This only shows the deep bonding we have with bike lovers,” Dubey told BusinessLine .
Aspirational product Dubey said, “The immense growth of IT-related and various other industries is fuelling the aspiration of people in Hyderabad, who want products which could compliment their lifestyle. There is a great deal of excitement among bike lovers here for Indian motorcycle.”
Growth prospects “We cater to a market which sells about 1,000 units. But this number is set to go up as import duty structure comes down. With a very high import duty of 105 per cent, the motorcycle cost works out to twice what is sold in the US. Since we bring fully-built units, an Indian buyer pays more,” he said.
“However, it is for the Centre to have a fresh look at the duty structure. With the stated objective of encouraging manufacturing through the Make in India drive, the government must bring down duty so that volumes go up. And as volumes go up, companies would come and set up units,” he said.
Highlighting the importance of the duty structure, he said, “The whole world is looking at Indian for their future growth. If the government addresses this early, it will boost local manufacturing. We are also considering an assembly line after 2018 when we have good volumes.”
The company offers Bespoke and popular products such as the Indian Scout, a 1200 cc motorcycle priced at ₹12.21 lakh ex-showroom in Hyderabad, and the portfolio goes up to ₹35 lakh for its 1700 cc Raod Master. Other Models on offer include 1700 cc Dark Horse, Indian Chief Classic, Indian Chief Vintage, Indian Chieftain.
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