Heard on the news this morning that Honda is closing its motorcycle plant inOhio that manufactures GoldWing's, going back to Japan.
http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2...otorcycle.html

 

Truly a shock, to have them move the bike building elsewhere after so long in Marysville. That community will loose a LOT, and I doubt that their statement of "No lay-offs" will hold out for very long. Remember Bush when he said "No new taxes..." and how long that lasted. Marysville depended on that Homecoming every year for it to boost their economy with the tens of thousands of tourists piling in for that week. From what I've read elsewhere the plant won't be closed, but changed over to cars. Still sad news to many Americans that may eventually loose their jobs from either Honda or the many other parts suppliers in that same area

 

Too bad for the locals and employees.
Too much of our money goes overseas so there is a flip side.

 

Posted here yesterday.

 

Are the import tariffs schduled to expire on import bikes soon? Tariffs were enacted to help save HD.I don't recall the year but I'm not so sure it was not around the time AMF exited.That pushed Honda and other makers to build bikes on U.S. soil to avoid the hefty import tariffs that would put them at a significant cost disadvanage. Now that HD is robust I beleive they asked congress to repeal the tariffs or they have been allowed toexpire.If this is the case and the tariffs have been removed, there is really no advantage to keep manuf in in U.S.. They can make the product cheaper in Japan (or some other country),ship it back intothe U.S. and be just as cost competitive as today.

I feel for the people in Marysville.

 

[quote]ORIGINAL: sweetglide

Are the import tariffs schduled to expire on import bikes soon? Tariffs were enacted to help save HD.I don't recall the year but I'm not so sure it was not around the time AMF exited.That pushed Honda and other makers to build bikes on U.S. soil to avoid the hefty import tariffs that would put them at a significant cost disadvanage. Now that HD is robust I beleive they asked congress to repeal the tariffs or they have been allowed toexpire.If this is the case and the tariffs have been removed, there is really no advantage to keep manuf in in U.S.. They can make the product cheaper in Japan (or some other country),ship it back intothe U.S. and be just as cost competitive as today.

I feel for the people in Marysville.
[/quote

That tarif was only in place for 5 years I believe and Harley asked it to be rescinded a year early as they had recovered. That was a long time ago and I was managing a Honda\Yamaha shop at the time. The Japanese came out with a whole line of 700cc bikes to get in under the 750cc and up size targeted by the tarif.