[culcune]

I forgot about the Harley/Zongshen deal--made back in the mid 00's from what I remember. I know we discussed it here on Chinariders loooong before even the release in China of the RX3! I am guessing that since 'free-trade' allows Chinese companies to send goods and services to the US, and set up whatever kind of dealer network it wants, and forces most any company wanting to do the same in China to create a joint-venture deal with well-established Chinese firms--makes perfect sense as 'free' trade, Harley went with 1 of the 2 largest Chinese powerhouses of the time--Zongshen (vs. Lifan). I am guessing that Loncin was on its way up (and may have already had BMW in deals), and a few others that were emerging were just not as large as Zongshen and Lifan. Politically, Zongshen is reported to have direct connections to the communist government vs. Lifan, so Harley might have been 'directed' to Zongshen in order to set up whatever joint venture they intended to set up in China.