Thursday, February 6, 2014

The Effect of Tarifs

If you read this blog much, you already realize I'm a motorcycle enthusiast.  I currently own two motorcycles, a Kawasaki dual sport and a Harley.  I bought my first bike at 18 and have owned one continuously for 15 years.  I'm a brand agnostic, lots of companies make good bikes, it all depends on what you are after.

Because of my interest I follow motorcycle news and over the last few years I've noticed a trend in the industry.  Manufacturers are building factories in India.  There are a number of reasons for this, a big one being tariffs.

India, and some other Asian countries like Vietnam, impose very high tariffs on imported motorcycles and scooters.  India is a becoming a huge market for two wheeled transportation, but bikes from Europe, Japan and even China are prohibitively expensive.  So what do manufacturers do?  If they want to sell products in a country where it's not feasible to import, they build a plant.

Honda is up to 4.  KTM is not only building new bikes in India, they are designing new models specifically for that market.  The old British brand Triumph has built bikes in India for some time and are even planning on building a bike in India they export to the UK.  The other British marque, Royal Enfield, is made in India.  Even Harley Davidson makes motorcycles in India.  Their latest offering, the Street 500 and 750, were even designed with members of the engineering team in India. 

It's a changing world out there!

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