New Delhi, Oct 15 (PTI) American cult bike manufacturerHarley-Davidson plans to open its skills centre, which itcalls the 'Harley-Davidson University', in India to train itsemployees and dealership staff.
Apart from technical training, the Harley-DavidsonUniversity also offers a variety of courses ranging frommanagement to finance and branding.
Currently, the US-based firm has three such universitiesin the Asia Pacific region. It is planning to open the fourthhere at the national capital.
"We will continue to invest in people and resources here(India). An example of that is Harley-Davidson Universitywhich we are going to open here in Delhi in next few weeks,"Harley-Davidson India and China MD Peter MacKenzie told PTI.
The upcoming entity would offer both technical and non-technical training to its employees and dealership staff fromacross the country, he added.
"Our university caters only to the Harley-Davidsoncommunity," MacKenzie said.
When asked what kind of education would be offered atthe university, he said: "There would be a technical course.
Also, a variety of courses ranging from management to financeand branding would be offered as part of the non-technicaltraining."MacKenzie, however, did not share details of the numberof faculty or people that will be employed at the institute.
Harley-Davidson has been present in India since 2009,selling a range of models, including Street 750 and StreetRod. Its current portfolio comprises 14 models which areretailed from 27 dealerships.
Commenting on the company's long term strategy for India,MacKenzie said the iconic bike maker wishes to be "moreaccessible and more relevant" in the market here.
With an aim to widen its reach, MacKenzie said thecompany is expanding its dealer presence here.
"Besides we continue to bring great products to enableboth current and future customers to remain engaged with thebrand," he said.
He added that the Harley-Davidson brand continues to growin India and as part of future strategy the company is alsofocusing at non-urban areas to bring in more customers.
The bike maker has come up with various initiatives toachieve its goal to connect with prospective customers even inremote areas.
"Quite often there is large distance between thedealerships so we have a mobile truck which is basically amobile store which we can take to remote locations and engagepeople to interact with the brand. We started doing it lastyear and continue to do this year as well," MacKenzie said.
The company also encourages its dealers to move to areaswhere there is no brand representation and do things like popup stores, engage people and gauge their interest, he said.
PTI MSS RKL ABMSBT.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.