Cleveland Cyclewerks shuts Indian operations - Report

Cleveland Cyclewerks has wrapped up its business in India. Financial Express reports that no Cleveland Cyclewerks dealerships are currently operational.

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A source close to the developments has said that the bookings numbers weren’t promising, and the products suffered from quality issue. Moreover, Cleveland Cyclewerks never updated the range with the safety net of ABS – a feature that is mandatory for all two-wheelers above 125 cc displacement in the Indian market.

The source report further adds that the 16,000 square feet assembly centre in Pune was hardly functional and that it was shut down nearly eight months ago. The company seems to have run into financial troubles, as the international website features a link, “Invest in Cleveland CycleWerks, find out more, click here!” The dealer tab lists various markets, although clicking on “India” takes you back to the homepage.

The two-wheeler brand had announced two products for the Indian market – the Ace scrambler and the Misfit café racer – at Auto Expo 2018. Cleveland had partnered with Laish-Madison Motorwerks Private Limited in India. The vehicles were imported into our market via the CKD route. A few components such as tyres and wiring were sourced locally. The company claimed 6% of parts were locally sourced.

However, despite the CKD imports, the motorcycles were priced at a premium. The Ace was launched at INR 2.24 lakh*, while the Misfit was introduced at INR 2.49 lakh*. Those were the ex-showroom Delhi price tags (without ABS).

For that price, Cleveland Cyclewerks offered the motorcycles with a 229 cc single-cylinder, air-cooled engine that made 15.4 bhp of peak power at 7,000 rpm and a maximum torque of 16 Nm at 6,000 rpm. The single-cylinder mill was linked to a five-speed gearbox. Cleveland Cyclewerks claimed a fuel economy in the range of 30-35 km/l.

The feature list of both motorcycles included inverted front forks and twin coil-spring rear shock absorbers. Anchoring department comprised a 298 mm disc with a two-piston calliper at the front and a 210 mm rotor with a single-piston calliper at the back.

The company has remained silent about the next course of action, although the revival of the brand seems unlikely.

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Cleveland Cyclewerks isn’t the only brand to wrap up its business. The partnership between UM Motorcycles and Lohia Auto has hit a roadblock, and the American brand has shut operations in the Indian market.

[Source: FinancialExpress.com]