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Ever since the Harley-Davidson X350 showed up on the company's Chinese web site, I've been watching other international H-D sites to see if it was going to be offered in other markets in Asia. It hasn't shown up, and now some "leaked" news in India may explain why.
The Indian automotive site ZigWheels has posted a detailed video on its YouTube channel about the Harley-Davidson HD4XX, a model reportedly being built in India by the huge manufacturer Hero MotoCorp in partnership with H-D.
Getting confused? Let's break down what we know.
- A few years ago, Harley-Davidson and Chinese manufacturer Qianjiang formed a partnership to build H-D-branded motorcycles for the Chinese market. The result of that partnership, the X350, is now on the market in China. It's a restyled variation of the Benelli TNT 300 that fellow Zillan Brandon took on a weekend tour a couple of years ago.
- Harley-Davidson isn't going to try to sell the X350 in the U.S. market, but an X350RA version of the bike will be shipped here to use as trainers in the company's Riding Academy courses. Not bringing the X350 here makes sense. Considering the number of H-D loyalists who said a Sportster wasn't a "real Harley," imagine what they'd say about a Chinese-built bike with a parallel-twin engine.
- Harley-Davidson also partnered up with Hero in India, and if the ZigWheels video is correct, that partnership is about to result in more than just Hero managing operations for Harley-Davidson in the country. If an India-built H-D is going to be out as soon as this year, that would also explain why Harley hasn't bothered to extend the X350 to the Indian market.
Frankly, the amount of information in the ZigWheels video and the nature of the photos shown suggest to me that this "leak" is a fully corporate public relations undertaking. Those "grainy photos" were professionally made so. This is the sort of thing a company does when it wants to build some anticipation and generate some buzz but isn't ready to launch a product officially just yet.
Of course the last time Hero had a partnership with a Harley-related company, namely Erik Buell Racing, it ended on sour terms for all parties. This partnership should presumably go better.
Considering that the least expensive motorcycle Harley-Davidson currently has in its U.S. lineup is the Nightster at $13,499, it has to develop new models with foreign partners at more affordable prices if it wants to sell more than a token number of motorcycles outside North America, Europe, and Japan. Just don't expect to see Harleys built in China and India for sale on U.S. showroom floors.
