By Chester Dawson and Reed Stevenson from Bloomberg and https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com Even though Japan’s population is shrinking and economic growth is tepid, the archipelago is one of the top five markets for heavy bikes. Polaris is seeking to boost Indian’s single-digit market share to 10% by 2025. A century ago, Indian motorcycles were the brand of choice for Japan’s police. They were called “aka-bai” — or red bikes — because of their color. Now, the maker of big American two-wheelers is seeking to recapture some of that glory with a brand relaunch. Recreational vehicle maker Polaris Inc., which makes and sells Indian bikes, is betting that it can gain market share from entrenched foreign rivals such as BMW Motorrad and Harley-Davidson Inc. Instead of relying on a single distributor, the Medina, Minnesota-based company now has its own operations in Japan, with plans to double its store count to 30. Even though Japan’s population is shrinking and economic growth is tepid, the archipelago is one of the top five markets for heavy bikes. Polaris is seeking to boost Indian’s single-digit market share to 10% by 2025. It has taken direct control over local marketing, which it had outsourced after buying the Indian Motorcycle brand and relaunching it globally in 2011. “We weren’t doing the rational thing in Japan,” said Kintaro Izumida, general manager of Polaris in Japan. He works out of an office in Yokohama with about a half-dozen other employees. “Now we’re going to do that.” Harley provides a rich target as the longtime market leader among import brands, with a 44% share of the 20,385 bikes sold last year, according to the Japan Automobile Importers Association. Japan’s domestic bike makers — Honda Motor Co., Kawasaki Motors Corp., Suzuki Motor Corp. and Yamaha Motor Co. — specialize in smaller-engine mass market
