Harley Davidson – the cult bike maker of US today revealed that the price of CKD bikes is not impacted due to the increased cess on CKD. The company has announced that it is evaluating options for the rise of the new CKD norms that has resulted in higher import duty. Harley-Davidson India Managing Director Anoop Prakash said that they are firm in honouring their commitment to their dealers, customers and enthusiasts across India, and are delighted to announce that they will maintain their current prices on their CKD models, the Iron 883 and SuperLow, for this calendar year.In December, the company had announced that the SuperLow and Iron 883 will be the first two models to be rolled out of the CKD assembly facility in Bawal in Haryana. The bikes are priced at Rs 5.5 lakh and Rs 6.50 lakh (ex-showroom), respectively.
These models will be available across the five Harley Davidson dealerships, in addition to the existing model line-up in 2011. Its other 12 fully imported bikes in India are priced between Rs 7.50 lakh and Rs 34.95 lakh. Anoop Prakash also revealed that Regardless, they remain committed to the Indian market for the long-term and will now evaluate whether they invest in adapting their operations to the new CKD standards or manage their business to the higher duty rate.He also mentioned that in the Budget 2011-12, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee introduced a new definition regarding CKD kits imports that excluded pre-assembled engine, gear box, transmission and chassis from its purview.
This resulted in increased customs duty to 60 per cent for these critical components. It was later revised to 30 per cent.We respect the government’s decision, even while we had shared our view that the increase in duties at this time may affect the development of the leisure motorcycling segment,” Prakash said.Harley Davidson had announced that it will start assembling bikes in India from November 2010 but however it has started selling its imported bikes in India only from this year.