Harley-Davidson suspends bike shipments in Russia, joins Volvo, GM, Mercedes

Premium motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson on Tuesday announced that it has suspended business and bike shipments to Russia, in the wake of the country's conflict with Ukraine. With this step, the iconic US-based premium motorcycle major has joined the list of auto manufacturers that have already stopped their business and vehicle shipments to Russia.

Other auto giants such as Volkswagen, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, Daimler Truck too have taken a similar stance in the wake of the conflict. They have announced a business operation halt in Russia. Also, they have decided to stop exporting vehicles to the Russian market, as several countries have imposed economic sanctions on Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine.

Volvo was the first carmaker in the world to announce that it will stop its business operation in Russia. Volkswagen too said that it has temporarily stopped shipping vehicles to Russia. Volvo exports its cars to Russia from Sweden, China and the US. The luxury automaker sold around 9,000 vehicles in Russia last year.

Among others, Daimler Trucks and Mercedes-Benz, which belong to the same German automobile group have stopped their business operations in Russia and decided to stop shipping vehicles there temporarily. They said the shipment of vehicles to Russia will resume only after assessing the impact of the sanctions that have been imposed by the US, European Union on Russia. Volkswagen too is assessing the impact of sanctions on Russia and its impact on the business.

General Motors is another carmaker that has stopped business operation and shipment of vehicles to Russia. GM doesn't have any manufacturing facility in Russia and it only sells around 3,000 cars in the country every year. General Motors has a very little number of suppliers in Russia as well.