Well, I had the chance to hear both Jochen Zeitz and John Olin on the conference call and I must say that he presented himself in a very assuring way and provided confidence that he's able to lead HD into the future.
What he outlined as the Rewire plan (the roll back of More Roads) seems to be pretty reasonable and in accordance with the current situation (not only World's situation, but HD owns situation as well)
He made a good presentation ... to investors.
Let's see how he does for the faithful among us here.
I think getting H-D unstuck is going to be like a ******-um strap: you need to get a big yank forward to merely stretch the strap - the, and only then, does the energy in the stretched strap have any effect on the stuck vehicle. In this case it will take a lot of cash and patience to get to that point. Will there be enough capital? Will investors be willing to wait three, four, eight quarters? Separately, will the faithful stray to Indian, BMW, the couch? The grave? Will new bloods appreciate Old School? Will they have the money and/or credit for Harley's price point? Will the economy support consumer confidence for toys?
I sure do have a bunch of questions - I certainly do not have all the answers.
Well, I had the chance to hear both Jochen Zeitz and John Olin on the conference call and I must say that he presented himself in a very assuring way and provided confidence that he's able to lead HD into the future.
What he outlined as the Rewire plan (the roll back of More Roads) seems to be pretty reasonable and in accordance with the current situation (not only World's situation, but HD owns situation as well)
Just what did he say that makes you feel like this? Seems he like the last two CEO's just want to please the investors, which is why Harley is in the Mess its in. They focused on making investors happy, not customers.
Did he talk about fixing the poor quality, which has been going down hill since 2009? Did he talk about quitting taking things off the bikes, while still raising priced? Did he talk about not using cheeper materials and parts to save a penny? Did he talk about having reasonable price for a new motorcycle?
All I head was make investors happy......Nothing about taking care of customers.
He made a good presentation ... to investors.
Let's see how he does for the faithful among us here.
I think getting H-D unstuck is going to be like a ******-um strap: you need to get a big yank forward to merely stretch the strap - the, and only then, does the energy in the stretched strap have any effect on the stuck vehicle. In this case it will take a lot of cash and patience to get to that point. Will there be enough capital? Will investors be willing to wait three, four, eight quarters? Separately, will the faithful stray to Indian, BMW, the couch? The grave? Will new bloods appreciate Old School? Will they have the money and/or credit for Harley's price point?Will the economy support consumer confidence for toys?
I sure do have a bunch of questions - I certainly do not have all the answers.
Many of the faithful have strayed to Indian and BMW. At least a lot of the CVO owners I know. They stray not because they don't like harley but more because of the Poor Quality and poor reliability.
Many young or new bloods in my are are on Road Glides, or converting the new softtail Dyna to look like an old FXR.
That is the problem not just for the new bloods but the older faithful A road glide special today coast the same as my 09 CVO Road Glide cost. My 09 had better paint and lots more features and held resale better. Was a much higher quality bike. You can buy a Mercedes Benzes for the cost of a CVO today. HD keeps lowering quality, removing parts and raising the price not a good sales model if you ask me.
I dang sure hope when Covid 19 is over the economy bounces back. Thats the million dollar question
Last edited by FLSTFI Dave; 05-10-2020 at 07:07 AM.
No they are reverting back in their old ways while pushing more of the same old crap. Sounds like they are back catering to the old farts and their CORE customers.
But yeah they'll manage
I have never felt catered to unless I was kicking the tires of a new bike.
Couple months ago I traded in my 06, they were tired of me shopping for Shovelhead and Twinkie part I can install myself. I feel like I forced the good relationship we had. I'm back to my old ways of doing everything I can to make what I have last. Don't want the latest chrome trinkets.
There existing dealer base needs to consider connecting with other manufacturers. Harley / Ducati / BMW. Bring people in the door. Harley dealerships are gigantic and how many black RG's or silver Ultra's do you really need to see? The sum of the parts can be greater than the total if you give customers a reason to go shopping for a motorcycle at your dealership while giving them choices. I've ridden each of these brands for years and honestly, my loyalty is fleeting on HD's because they've become overpriced, poorly built and far behind on technology. I am hopeful this turns around but for this company to survive and our local dealerships to stay open, the calculus needs to change.
Just what did he say that makes you feel like this? Seems he like the last two CEO's just want to please the investors, which is why Harley is in the Mess its in. They focused on making investors happy, not customers.
Did he talk about fixing the poor quality, which has been going down hill since 2009? Did he talk about quitting taking things off the bikes, while still raising priced? Did he talk about not using cheeper materials and parts to save a penny? Did he talk about having reasonable price for a new motorcycle?
All I head was make investors happy......Nothing about taking care of customers.
Still there's a long way to go and a lot to be revealed in details about his plans..... the main outline of what he said (and mirrors a lot of what Keith Wandell did during his tenure) was:
1- Stop investing in low profit markets and focus on the main ones (specially US, but also EU) - even though he did only mention US specifically, this means that he might be considering the part of More Roads that dealt specifically into entering China & India markets with a small displacement bike - Be very honest, do you think that HD is able to compete fairly in those two markets with a 338cc bike?
2- Streamline process and manufacturing - in other words, ditch redundant models and focus on a cost effective production
3- Invest in our core products - The motorcycles we all ride and will want to ride - in this case, he specifically told that Aventure Touring (Pan America), Streetfighter (Bronx) and Livewire would continue to move forward (since they're either completed or in advanced development stages).....but we might not get to see the rest of the planned bikes for More Roads.
4- Optimize the administrative structure - meaning that they might cut corporate jobs (and payment) to make the company profitable.
Again, there's a lot of details that hasn't been revealed, and this is my interpretation to his speech and presentation.
05-08-2020, 12:40 PM
