Interview with Pranav Desai
CEO, Laish-Madison Motor Werks Pvt Ltd.
Date:
16 Jan 2018
| Author: P.Tharyan
To begin with, can you take us through the initial journey of
discovering US-based Cleveland and finally deciding to tie up with them? What
prompted you to get into this strategic alliance?
Cleveland CycleWerks is not
just a motorcycle company but a brand born out of passion keeping in mind the
need of riders around the world. They have managed to establish themselves as a
strong brand in a very short span of time across 23 countries already and when
they planned to enter India, we felt like we could do justice to Cleveland and
the consumers in India by partnering with them to offer the best of the breed
motorcycle service and riding experience.
The proven legacy and global
footprint led to Laish-Madison Motor Werks Pvt Ltd being Cleveland CycleWerks’
exclusive partner in the Indian market. We are committed to bring CCW's
affordable American motorcycles to the Indian consumers and set up its market
with proper customer support from the ground up.
You intend
selling 250cc to 500cc Cleveland bikes. To begin with how are these bikes doing
on the sales front in the US and other countries in which it has a presence?
Yes, we intend to initially enter the Indian
two-wheeler market with our bikes in the 250cc-500cc segment. Every geography has its own attributes and
elements which directly or indirectly affect the local market. In terms of our
sales, we have sold over 250,000 bikes so far globally.
As for India, which is going
to be our latest market, we feel that it is a country with huge potential and
has become the largest market of two-wheelers in the world. We firmly believe
that we have chosen our market rightly. However, being a new entrant, we think
there are lots of challenges we need to face as the country is huge and has a
multi-cultural population. Nevertheless, we are very excited to explore our new
market and strongly believe consumers in India are now open to exploring new
experiences.
Can you share your plans for India, as to whether these bikes would be
assembled here or manufactured at some stage?
As we all know India has
emerged as the world's biggest market for two-wheelers in the recent past and
there is a growing young breed of semi-urban commuters with rising incomes
alongside the growing infrastructure in the country’s rural areas which makes
it a key market for Cleveland CycleWerks.
We have an assembly plant
coming up in Pune. Cleveland CycleWerks has therefore joined hands with LMMW to
assemble and sell American designed motorcycles from Cleveland in India while
also offering our Indian customers exceptional service experience. From there,
we initially plan to cross the mark of 5000 bikes in 2018-19 and subsequently
grow our sales as well as our offerings in the India market keeping in mind our
consumers' requirement. We feel that India is a market where sales are only
going to go up, and there is enormous potential to expand.
Would
you be displaying Cleveland models at the Auto Expo?
We are planning to officially
launch 2 of our motorcycles from our existing range of bikes at the upcoming
Auto Expo 2018 to begin with. The models - ACE and Misfit, fall under the café
racer category. There will be various design options for both the models which
would be available for the Indian consumer and it will be showcased at the
upcoming Auto Expo.
Can you take us through the investment for setting up your plant? Also,
you said you are in a partnership, can you elaborate? Is it some kind of a
franchise agreement or is the American company also investing in your project?
We are an exclusive partner of Cleveland
CycleWerks in India and we envisage our relationship to be a long and mutually
fulfilling one.
Retro
bikes have not done exceedingly well in the country, especially when existing
manufacturers have brought them out. How do you hope to sell good numbers here
in India?
Cleveland CycleWerks is a motorcycle brand
recognized for its classic retro-designed, easy maintenance and dependability.
We have already established ourselves as a reliable brand in 23 countries and
have successfully done business across 5 continents and now we plan to bring
CCW to India with the cultural experience we have gathered throughout our
journey. We have different products for different set of customers. And in
general, it can be said that we have products for all age group ranging from 18
years to 40 years. Initially, we will be focusing on around 8-10 states where
the sales of motorcycles have been significant overall especially in the
segment of 200 – 500 CC, the segment we are targeting.
