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[Harley Davidson quits Indian market !! What are their future plans ?](
On 24th September 2020, the historic American motor company Harley Davidson announced its big decision of leaving the Indian auto market. Its manufacturing was established in India in 2009.
Why did Harley Davidson take such a major step?
It is obvious that if a company plans to discontinue its schemes or products, the biggest reason is the loss in business. Coming back to the motor company. Harley says that they have faced a tremendous loss in Indian markets. The reason includes several factors that the company is examining to make their future plans worthwhile.
The new CEO Jochen Zeitz talked about the loss that the company recently faced and along with the decision of winding up from India also mentioned a new five-year plan called âHardwire strategyâ to replace the ongoing âRewire strategyâ which will focus on achieving back the value of the company that is lost to some extent due to this heavy loss. Company has already started working on the plan and will be executed from the end of 2020 that will guide the working policies company until 2025.
Harley states that this new plan would be more focus on the quality of the iconic products of the company and would be doing more investments in markets where the company is performing efficiently. Under this plan, the company would focus more on the planned models rather than researching an innovation. Though Harley Davidson would be launching their promised models in the market under this scheme but the concepts like EV or electric bikes would be kept on hold for some time.
The latest updates state how Harley Davidson wonât be completely vanishing from India but still have to do a lot of work in the area to make a comeback.
Issues faced by Harley Davidsonâs sales in India
Firstly, the Indian public prefers economical vehicle segments. The most used segment of bikes in India is fuel-efficient 150cc bikes which are opposite from Harley Davidson. Secondly, other super and cruiser bikes are also sold in India but maybe Harley failed to be a proper value for money for the Indian public. Stressing over the companyâs stats and sales, Harley sales around 3000 units per year in India and has
sold around 27,000 units in India in 10 years. This may sound like a joke but Royal Enfield sells double of this much amount of units every month. Being very transparent this clearly shows the major downfall of Harley Davidson in the Indian market. After the complete analysis, it is revealed that $96 million loss was suffered by the company between April-June 2020 and there was even a loss of 60% per share. Compared with last year, Harley gained a profit of $195.6 million and $1.23 per share profit in 2019. This major difference in the stats made the company take major decisions.
Some affairs are also happening between India and USA governments due to this, as being a multinational motor company of course it will make changes in the economy of both the countries. U.S. President Donald Trump says, Indian import charges are too high and calls it âunfairâ and the company also thinks Indiaâs high tax regime is also a hurdle in their sales. PM Modi and Indian government reduced import charges from 100% to 50%, still the U.S. government remains unsatisfied. All these conflicts and issues led the company to the decision of quitting manufacturing in India.
A major American motor company winding up from India, is it the only issue? NO !! When Harley Davidson came to India it gave its first dealership in July 2010 and currently, there are 33 Harley Davidson dealerships all over the country. Due to this issue, these dealers have to undergo a big loss and the workers of Harley Davidson India already started losing their jobs and based on a rough calculation around 2000 workers would lose their jobs. This is quite depressing and the Indian government has to be answerable for this as the high taxes and duty charges are the major factors that the company couldnât afford while facing loss at the same time.
How would Indians buy Harley Davidsonâs bike?
In the latest update of Harley Davidson, the company has stated that they are just winding up the manufacturing of their bikes in India but they are willing to sell it with the dealership contacts. The service wonât be the same as before for sure !! The company would serve limited offerings, as they have seen a bad response so they will focus on the services and units that gave a beneficial result in India. Under this new hardwire strategy they will also pay more attention to the markets where they are already ruling, so services in India wonât be as same as before. It has been heard that Harley Davidson will offer after-sales in India and are also looking for an Indian two-wheeler company to do that. Most probably this will be done by their collaboration with Hero Motocorp or Mahindra as of now. This time they will be more focused on not more than 500 cc bikes as per the needs and wants of the Indian public.
The post [Harley Davidson quits Indian market !! What are their future plans ?]( first appeared on [TheAutomobileNews.com](.
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[U.S. New Car Sales Show Signs of Life in September](
Some automakers report substantive sales increases.
Subaru set a sales record in September amid the economic slowdown brought on by the pandemic, which has continued to hobble sales across the industry, as evidenced by General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. each reporting a 10% drop in sales for the third quarter.
Subaru of America Inc., which unlike some of its competitors reports monthly sales totals, said it sold 60,103 vehicle sales for September 2020, a 16% increase compared with September 2019.
However, following 11 consecutive years of sales records, Subaru reported year-to-date sales of 436,560, a 17% decrease compared to the same period in 2019. September marked the first month of 60,000+ vehicle sales for the automaker since December 2019.
Toyota Motor North America, which also reports sales totals each month, said September 2020 sales totaled 197,124 units, an increase of 16.2% on a volume basis. Toyota Division sales for the month were up 14.3% on a volume basis, and Lexus Division sales were up 31.3%. For the full year TMNA sales are down 18 percent.
Sales of hybrid models accounted for more than 16% of total TMNA sales in September. Toyotaâs passenger car sales are proving resilient despite the popularity of trucks and SUVs with the sales of increasing 4.3% in September and sales of Lexus passenger cars growing 31.3 percent.
Hyundai Motor America reported total September sales of 54,790 units, a 5% increase compared with September 2019. Retail sales were up 21%. Hyundai fleet sales were down 67% and represented 5% of total volume. Hyundai anticipates outperforming the retail sales industry average again in September, something it has accomplished every month in 2020.
Despite the influx of strong results, there were plenty of makers that struggled, including at least two of the Detroit-area automakers that report sales quarterly.
General Motors reported that it delivered 665,192Â vehicles in the third quarter of 2020, a decrease in total vehicle sales of about 10% compared to a year ago. In a sign of a recovering industry, sales improved sequentially each month within the quarter. Industry and GM sales rebounded significantly in September, finishing the month with year-over-year sales increases.
For the first nine months of 2020, GM sales are down 17.4 percent.
Kurt McNeil, GM vice president, U.S. Sales Operations, noted, âIndustry-wide, dealers are selling a high mix of large pickups as the summer comes to an end. Our strong large pickup and all-new full-size SUV line-ups from Chevrolet and GMC are selling extremely fast.â
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. reported a 10% drop in sales in the third quarter compared with the same time period a year earlier â as strong retail sales offset much of the ongoing softness in fleet purchases. Third-quarter total sales finished 38% higher than the second-quarter results as FCA sold 140,265 more vehicles.
âThe results reflect the hard work our dealers have done throughout the third quarter as they worked through the COVID-19 restrictions while still improving our sales over the prior months,â U.S. Head of Sales Jeff Kommor said. âJeep and Ram are hot and we continue to prioritize deliveries to our dealers who are asking us to ship as many vehicles as we can build.â
The Nissan Group reported total sales for the July-September quarter of 221,150 units, a decrease of 32.4% from the prior year.
âFrom an industry perspective, consumer confidence in the market is rising and the tools that Nissan has put into place to assist customers to shop and purchase remotely have been paying off,â said David Kershaw, division vice president, Nissan Sales & Regional Operations, Nissan North America. âRetail sales continued to improve in the third quarter as we decrease rental fleet volume and focus on steadily building a quality, sustainable business.â
Due to increases in average down payments and average transaction prices for new vehicles, Edmunds, the car buying help service, said that average loan terms and monthly payments decreased slightly in the third quarter compared to the second quarter. The average annual percentage rate (APR) for new vehicles saw a small increase, hitting 4.6% in Q3 compared to 4.2% in Q2.
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The post [U.S. New Car Sales Show Signs of Life in September]( first appeared on [TheAutomobileNews.com](.
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[Driven: The All-New Electric Polestar 2 By Volvo And Geely Auto](
A pristine white Polestar 2 arrives at my home and I am a little nervous. Distracted, I pay little attention to the delivery driverâs thorough explanation of the carâs technicalities, which I regret when it comes to charging the battery on my final test day. The problem is, the Polestar 2 has a great deal to live up to â ironically high hopes placed on the car by me. Having written positively on this new brand, interviewed the CEO and then the creative director, talked passionately about its design and liaised with a group of innovators making the novel vegan material featured inside, I am terrified that driving the Polestar 2, the real-time experience, may not match my great expectations.
Polestar was announced three years ago as a new company focused entirely on making cutting-edge, highly technical electric cars. The products benefit from the expertise offered by its parent company, the Volvo and Geely Auto Group. Yet, Polestar has its own mission in (what the company likes to see as) being the âguiding starâ â pioneering ideas for the rest of the group. So, everything has been meticulously considered to be sustainable, right down to the low carbon footprint plant in Chengdu, China.
Visually, Polestar follows a strict regime of minimalist aesthetics â clean lines and clear surfaces, as well as a neutral color palette. Customers are not given free creative choices either â rather they pick and mix from a tight menu. The strict styling extends to the Polestar Cube global headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. It may all sound a little too controlling, but the primary theme is to ensure the products follow a strict code and portray the message of unpolluted, cutting-edge transport.
First came the pinnacle Polestar 1 â a plus-$182,000, limited-edition grand touring coupé with 600hp electric performance, which I got to experience as a prototype. This volume model Polestar 2, though, is the car the company has high hopes for since it is a Tesla Model 3 competitor and priced reasonably around â¬40,000 ($46,000).
I hop onboard my Polestar 2 test car and head to west London to pick up my mother and run her errands, which is usually a great way to explore all practical aspects of a test car. Electric vehicles give linear acceleration and the Polestar 2 offers a pleasing commute. Performance is at the heart of this brand with the all-wheel drive electric powertrain has 408 horsepower and 660 Nm (487 lb-ft), with 62mph possible in under five seconds and with the car maxing at 127mph.
Mirroring the exterior design, the inside is clean and clear and uncluttered. It helps elevate a sense of calm â not a bad thing in pandemic times and certainly a welcome sanctuary in Londonâs traffic. Everything inside is covered in shades of white and black, bar Polestarâs signature bold orange/gold seat belts which somehow remind me of the red braces favored by the fictional character Gordon Gekko in the 1987 movie Wall Street, which Iâm guessing is not the impact intended. That aside, this is a thoroughly likeable space to inhabit as I intuitively sync my iPhone and adjust to the carâs settings in a matter of minutes. The clear frameless side mirrors are elegant and provide great rear visibility and I take advantage of the top-down camera view which makes city parking an absolute breeze.
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The post [Driven: The All-New Electric Polestar 2 By Volvo And Geely Auto]( first appeared on [TheAutomobileNews.com](.
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