"We are building a strong foundation for our business in India, first by establishing a world-class dealer network, and now by commencing CKD assembly operations," Harley-Davidson India Managing Director Anoop Prakash said.
The company will set up the new facility near Bawal in Haryana. Harley Davidson, however, did not specify the production capacity or the investment that will be made in the facility.
Currently, Harley-Davidson India imports completely assembled motorcycles from its US final assembly plants.
Besides India, outside the US, the company has CKD assembly operations in Brazil. "Harley-Davidson is moving forward with the launch of operations in India to assemble motorcycles for the Indian market from the component kits supplied by its US plants and it expects the facility to be operational in the first half of 2011," the company added.
Commenting on the plans Harley-Davidson Motor Company President and Chief Operating Officer Matthew S Levatich said, "Given the strong response we have received in the initial months of retail operations, we believe this is the right investment for this important market".
After the Haryana facility will be operational, Harley-Davidson India will import CKD kits for select models from the company's US plants and employees at the Haryana facility will then assemble the components into finished motorcycles, the company added.
However, rest of the models will continue to be imported as completely built motorcycles for now. Harley-Davidson India commenced operations in August 2009 and currently offers 12 models in its 2010 line-up in India.