[raj981]

Have been wanting to buy a full sized cruiser for some time now. Did some extensive riding in US and UK and found the following motorcycles to be the best when it comes to spending hours together without much fuss. There could be more but these are the ones on which I have spent at least 12 hours.

The BMW R1200 GSA is an outlier there but is something that I have come to like a lot and is the only motorcycle that you can go globe trotting under varied riding condition.

When looking at the India pricing, I noticed that some motorcycles are priced way higher in INR terms to their USD or AUD equivalent. Don't know why this is the case. Thought of sharing this small analyses with the forum to get their views on the same.

Notes:

1. All the bikes on that list are CBUs
   
2. The factor that you see in the table is a simple INR price divided by USD/AUD/GBP price. Since all the bikes are CBU i would have thought that the difference should not have been much. But if you see the factor for Harley Road Glide is almost 140 vs the BMW R 1200 GSA's factor of 89.
   
3. The BMW and the Honda seems to be priced lower in India than the American big boys, based on US and Australia pricing
   
4. The UK pricing seems to be the most consistent across the bike range

[Turbanator]

Interesting, some of the reasons I can think for the higher prices for Harley can be the exclusivity they want to maintain over CKD models and probably higher margins to Dealer by both Harley and Indian on CBU bikes. Also, overheads for dealers and company will be much higher in case of Indian which must be doing 2 digits Yearly sales across India.

I wonder, how come UK prices are so similar to Indian markets than anywhere else?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by raj981

The factor that you see in the table is a simple INR price divided by USD/AUD/GBP price. Since all the bikes are CBU i would have thought that the difference should not have been much. But if you see the factor for Harley Road Glide is almost 140 vs the BMW R 1200 GSA's factor of 89.

Related Thread

One sees the same phenomena in cars too; some CBUs (e.g. Volvo) are well-priced, while others are obscene. It depends on a wide variety of things:

- Some companies might sell products at a loss initially. IIRC, this was the case with some Volvo cars.

- Some don't want the CBU to sell. It's only purpose is to generate news, publicity & eyeballs (best example is Mercedes).

- Does one motorcycle company already have an Indian arm with which it can share fixed costs & facilities (e.g. BMW 2-wheelers & 4-wheelers)? That will lead to a lower price.

- Where are the CBUs being sourced from? There would be a difference in the pricing of CBUs coming from USA versus Thailand.

- The individual "internal" pricing strategy for some companies. Some may provide better pricing when selling a car / bike from the European subsidiary to the Indian one, but another won't.

- The profit margins decided by the Indian CEO.

There's a wide variety of factors at play here. In the end, the best judge of a suitable price is the customer. If the market rewards it, the product is generally worth the price. Few overpriced products ever sell in India.

[Turbanator]

Very Valid points GTO, but what makes all of them priced similarly- factor vise(152-161) when compared to UK markets?

Or do they all just use a factor on UK prices for the Indian market?

[raj981]

Originally Posted by GTO

It depends on a wide variety of things:

- Some don't want the CBU to sell. It's only purpose is to generate news, publicity & eyeballs (best example is Mercedes).

Why would a Company do that in this competitive market? I just read another thread that speaks of falling sales of big capacity motorcycles. Market ceded to competition is hard to get back.

Originally Posted by GTO

- Where are the CBUs being sourced from? There would be a difference in the pricing of CBUs coming from USA versus Thailand.

Harley has a plant in Thailand. Not sure where the motorcycles come from. I would have to presume it comes from Thailand to take advantage of the trade agreement.

Originally Posted by GTO

There's a wide variety of factors at play here. In the end, the best judge of a suitable price is the customer. If the market rewards it, the product is generally worth the price. Few overpriced products ever sell in India.

Very true. and while i say that I was surprised to see quite a few of the Road Glides, CVOs, Chieftians and the Roadmasters at an event in Goa. People do have the appetite and the budget for these bikes. BMW does not move as many of its K1600GTL as much as HD and Indian does of their flagship models. That inspite of the real tourers in the US swear by the BMW and the Goldwings.

Makes a very strong case for the BMW in my opinion. That buttery smooth inline 6 is just magical and at the India pricepoint, a very strong contender if thinking from the head.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Interesting, some of the reasons I can think for the higher prices for Harley can be the exclusivity they want to maintain over CKD models and probably higher margins to Dealer by both Harley and Indian on CBU bikes. Also, overheads for dealers and company will be much higher in case of Indian which must be doing 2 digits Yearly sales across India.

I wonder, how come UK prices are so similar to Indian markets than anywhere else?

Would a manufacturer lose on sales to protect dealer margins? Most of the CBU flagships are procured based on a firm order so the dealers are already saving money in inventory costs.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Very Valid points GTO, but what makes all of them priced similarly- factor vise(152-161) when compared to UK markets?

Or do they all just use a factor on UK prices for the Indian market?

This one still baffles me Bhai!

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by raj981

Why would a Company do that in this competitive market? I just read another thread that speaks of falling sales of big capacity motorcycles. Market ceded to competition is hard to get back.

It's like selective losing, happens everywhere for many reasons.

Harley has a plant in Thailand. Not sure where the motorcycles come from. I would have to presume it comes from Thailand to take advantage of the trade agreement.

I think all the big bikes they get are from the USA.

Would a manufacturer lose on sales to protect dealer margins? Most of the CBU flagships are procured based on a firm order so the dealers are already saving money in inventory costs.

CBU Margins are highest amongst Bikes and Cars and contrary to common wisdom, its opposite- why? I don't know, perhaps risks are higher in case of cancellations or the marketing costs are higher? Or they simply reward Dealers with more margins on the sale of niche products. So as an example, if a BMW Dealership will earn 7 % on an Indian built car, the Margin increase to 12 % or so for a CBU.