Several news services are reporting that Indian Motorcycles of Gilroy, California closed its factory on Friday, September 19, 2003, sending nearly 400 employees home without a job.
Just two years after its 100th anniversary, and during the year of rival Harley-Davidson’s 100th anniversary, Indian is quite clearly in financial trouble and, perhaps, headed for bankruptcy court. Several published reports indicate Indian was in the middle of negotiations with at least one investor, attempting to raise more than ten million dollars.
In addition to celebrating its 100th anniversary just two years ago, the Indian trademark was the subject of dispute for decades, before being resolved in 1998 by a Federal court. Thus, the new Indian has been in existence for only a few years.
Indian had recently announced a special “T3” motorcycle based on a movie theme derived from the latest Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator movie. The company reportedly has approximately 200 dealers in the United States, many of whom have no source of revenue other than the sale of Indian motorcycles and related projects.
We are not going out on a limb by speculating that the Indian brand will reappear, again. Motorcycle trademarks like “Indian” are considered very valuable by investor/enthusiasts, and even by other motorcycle manufacturers. Witness Aprilia’s acquisition of the Laverda and Moto Guzzi trademarks in the last few years, despite the serious financial woes those small marques had been experiencing. The Indian trademark will live, either in the hands of the creditors of Indian (for a period of time), in a reorganized Indian (under the existing ownership structure) or in the hands of some individual or entity that purchases this valuable trademark to carry on the Indian tradition.
