It's the wet dream of many a man with a midlife crisis: a Harley-Davidson. This American brand of heavy motorcycles will set up a factory in Rayong that will produce the popular motorcycles. It should be operational by the end of 2017 and will provide employment for 100 employees.

The Thai factory will build exclusively for the Asian market, America will be served by the factories from their own country. Harley Davidson chooses this because of the strong trade barriers. Southeast Asia is a growth market with an increasing number of wealthy consumers. Importing the engines would make them too expensive. Thailand applies an import duty of 60%. This makes Harleys more than twice as expensive as in the US.

If the motorcycles are built in Thailand, the price can drop significantly. When the engine is exported to other Asean countries, the company benefits from the Asean Free Trade Agreement.

Source: Bangkok Post

5 Responses to “Harley-Davidson to build motorcycles in Thailand for the Asian market”

  1. l.low size says up

    If you drive over the Sukhumvit towards Sattahip, there is a large Harley Davidson shop on the left after the Floating Market, Mimosa and Honda dealer.

  2. Cornelis says up

    Whether the company benefits from the ASEAN free trade agreement when exporting to the other ASEAN countries remains to be seen. According to the article in the Bangkok Post, the factory assembly of imported 'kits' will take place and that is probably not enough to meet the criteria of the relevant agreement (ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement) because it requires that there is must be of at least 40% 'regional content'.

  3. antony says up

    Well good news and hopefully the prices will drop a lot here in Thailand. I'm a Harley fan, but to pay such a price for what is being asked in Thailand is ridiculous.

    Regards,
    Anthony

  4. Gerard says up

    Funny, Harley Davidson also has production in India and there it is a cheap step-up model which, in our opinion, is of lesser quality than the usual for Harley (according to motorcycle tests by motorcycle magazines).
    I personally ride a Triumph in the Netherlands and this British brand also has a large factory in Thailand, although you see few Triumph motorcycles in Thailand itself.
    Ducation and Kawasaki also have production in Thailand as well as Michelin motorcycle tires and many suppliers for the car and motorcycle factories.
    It's just a matter of production costs, the quality in Thailand is high, the cost is lower.

    • henry says up

      BMW engines are also produced in Thailznd


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