It's a little difficult to interpret all of this information but from what I get out of it with an accounting and business degree, Harley-Davidson Inc. had better get to work. This according to an October 15, 2009 report. http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/C...release.hdnews

 

Link took me to the H-D website , but the page was empty?

 

There are but a few large companies out there that are NOT in the same boat.
(I can't even name them).

The economy is in the chitter.

 

this is the problem with publicly traded companies you have to continually drive revenue up which is increasingly difficult to do, there's only so many new motorcycles and crappy chinese jackets you can sell in a quarter in this economy. your companies worth is its stock which if they can't drive revenue up to satisfy shareholders, it then becomes worthless and the company along with it.

a near 22% drop in new motorcycle sales from a year ago is very bad though.

 

It's not just HD; unemployement, excessive debt and tight credit are causing many small businesses and corporations to suffer. Wait until the commercial real estate bubble bursts.

 

Well, unless you have been in a complete information vacuum for the past while, you would realize they have: Dropped Buell, dropped Augusta, looking to move main production to a more efficient, lower cost location, closed other manufacturing plants, layoffs (both production and white collar), simplifying current lineup and the list goes on. I would say HD has been "getting to work."

They are still making money as the economy struggles to recover as opposed to many other manufacturing companies and they have done it without massive government bailouts.

 

Things will level back out in time but people are starting to realize that they were living outside there means. During the good years the companies like harley and others saw alot of income and people were buying anything and everything and spending alot of money they didn't have. I think this economic crash has opened the eyes to many that are now trying to scale back and live with in there lifestyle means and there income means which means less sales for everyone and all companies. The big flow of cash is gone and things will get back to a more normal pace now. And all the high dollar people that came to harley because of the motorcycle boom and the tv shows like american chopper and orange county chopper have really slowed down and probably by now found a new toy buy.

 

I agree completely. This is a company that made it through the Great Depression and every recession since then. Will it be tough for a few years, yes it will. But I really believe HD will end up pulling out at the end of it all.

That said, one thing that will kill them dead is if they forget that they are an American icon and decide to start BUILDING bikes overseas. They are being called out daily on the Chinese content of the bikes and the cheap **** clothes and such at the dealers. I really do believe it would be the end of the company if they go much further. Regardless of the "economics" of building overseas.

 

I'll probably dodge bullets for this, but I think the best thing HD could do for their company is stop making motorcycles or, at the very least, limit their production.

Instead of introducing new models every year, they should do it every three to five years. I am NOT saying they should go out of business. On the contrary, I think it would be the best business move they ever made. The value of all of the existing motorcycles (the well kept ones anyway) would probably skyrocket. They'd still make a ton of money from their service departments, memorabilia, aftermarket parts, etc. It would require a "slimming" of their existing infrastructure, but I think it would result in higher quality output.

The original thing that the Harley Davidson motorcycle symbolizes: its "mystique", cannot be mass produced. I hate to say it because I am a die hard HD loyalist when it comes to bikes but, Harley Davidson is ruining Harley Davidson. Mass production ruins things because it requires the producer to continually draw from resources that become depleted. Following the depletion, there is always the implementation of an often cheaper and less qualitative substitute.

Personally, I think they should have stopped in 2002 with the TC88 or even in 1999 with the Evo in its final configuration.

That is just my opinion and worth what you paid for it.

Ready to dodge bullets.

 

I think the downsizing of models and dealerships is a good idea, too. The boutique dealerships must have exorbitant overhead and a lot of product has to move to keep one of those KMart sized stores in bidness.

Yes, the H-D logo is world famous but linking it to foreign manufactured stuff is going to backfire, imho. We are going through a time very similar to the 1930s now and nationalism will probably be a big thing like it was c. 1941 ... I hope I'm wrong ...