Harley-Davidson former owner, and had been MV Agusta's chairman since Harley-Davidson bought it in 2008. As part of the deal, Harley-Davidson put $26M into MV Agusta's accounts, essentially giving Castiglioni $26M to take the brand. In August 2009, Harley-Davidson announced plans to enter the market in India, and started selling motorcycles there in 2010. The company established a subsidiary, Harley-Davidson India, in Gurgaon, near Delhi, in 2011, and created an Indian dealer network. According to Interbrand, the value of the Harley-Davidson brand fell by 43 percent to $4.34 billion in 2009. The fall in value is believed to be connected to
Harley-Davidson FL hydraulically damped telescopic forks, replacing the leading link spring suspension of the time. These forks were standard on all big twin models for 1949, including the E, EL, F, and FL. Harley-Davidson offered the spring suspension units on these models and recommended their use on sidecar combinations, because the hydraulic forks did not have enough trail to allow the combination to be stable enough for safe operation. During their debut model year of 1949, Harley-Davidson referred to their new suspension systems as the "hydraulic front ends". Harley-Davidson's marketing department promoted the new suspension systems by renaming the big twin models