Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Harley-Davidson plans a Thailand factory to serve SE Asian market

Published 05/25/2017, 12:28 AM
Updated 05/25/2017, 12:30 AM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Harley-Davidson is pictured at the 38th Bangkok International Motor Show in Bangkok

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Harley-Davidson is pictured at the 38th Bangkok International Motor Show in Bangkok

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc (HOG.N) said on Thursday it will build a plant in Thailand, a major Asian automotive hub, to serve the growing Southeast Asian market, a move criticized by a U.S. labor union.

The company did not give a figure for the planned investment in Thailand's Rayong province, southeast of Bangkok.

Katie Whitmore, Harley-Davidson public relations manager, said the company had its best results in Asia-Pacific in 2016, though she gave no numbers.

The Thailand facility "will allow us to be more responsive and competitive in the ASEAN region and China," Harley-Davidson public relations manager Katie Whitmore said.

"Increased access and affordability for our customers in the region is key to growth for the company in total," she said. "There is no intent to reduce H-D U.S. manufacturing due to this expansion."

The plant would let Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson avoid Thailand's up to 60 percent tariff on imported motorcycles and help it get tax breaks when exporting to Thailand's neighbors, thanks to a trade arrangement among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN).

Harley opened a plant in India in 2011. It also assembles motorcycles at a plant in Brazil.

After the New York Times reported on Harley's planned Thai investment, United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard on Tuesday said the decision was "a slap in the face to the American worker and to hundreds of thousands of Harley riders across the country."

USW represents members at Harley plants in two U.S. states and 850,000 workers in North America.

Gerard also said that production outside the U.S. "puts in jeopardy the success that has propelled Harley over the years."

Whitmore said motorcycles assembled in Thailand would have the same "authentic look, sound and feel" as those manufactured in the U.S.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Harley-Davidson is pictured at the 38th Bangkok International Motor Show in Bangkok

Demand for Harley motorcycles in the U.S., the company's biggest market, continues to be slow as its loyal baby boomer demographic changes ages.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.