Posted on 05/25/2017 7:04:01 AM PDT by BenLurkin
atie Whitmore, Harley-Davidson public relations manager, said the company had its best results in Asia-Pacific in 2016, though she gave no numbers.
The Thailand facility "will allow us to be more responsive and competitive in the Asean region and China," Harley-Davidson public relations manager Katie Whitmore said.
"Increased access and affordability for our customers in the region is key to growth for the company in total," she said. "There is no intent to reduce H-D U.S. manufacturing due to this expansion."
The plant would let Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson avoid Thailand's up to 60 percent tariff on imported motorcycles and help it get tax breaks when exporting to Thailand's neighbors, thanks to a trade arrangement among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN).
Harley opened a plant in India in 2011. It also assembles motorcycles at a plant in Brazil.
After the New York Times reported on Harley's planned Thai investment, United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard on Tuesday said the decision was "a slap in the face to the American worker and to hundreds of thousands of Harley riders across the country."
USW represents members at Harley plants in two U.S. states and 850,000 workers in North America.
Gerard also said that production outside the U.S. "puts in jeopardy the success that has propelled Harley over the years."
Whitmore said motorcycles assembled in Thailand would have the same "authentic look, sound and feel" as those manufactured in the U.S.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Thailand?
USW is off-base here. The bikes built at these plants (Thailand, India etc) are intended for sale within those markets only. In the case of the India plant, it’s for “Complete Knocked-Down” units i.e. the entire bike is manufactured in the US, but is shipped to India disassembled, and finished at the assembly plant inside India. This allows it to bypass the 104%(!) tariff India imposes on imported motorcycles, while still allowing Harley to sell to a market that can’t get enough of their bikes.
Harley rice burners?
I don’t see the problem. They loooooove their two wheelers over there. Plus, they probably have different model names, sizes, scooters maybe. It’s a different market.
I love my 2016 Road Glide Special.
Target markets besides Thailand (bigger market than you might think) would include Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, and the biggest of all ... China and India. The roads in all those countries are better suited to two wheel traffic than four and there’s a surprising level of status symbol seeking spendable income. Some companies would have probably opted for Vietnam as a production locale, but that might have been considered a bridge an American icon like Harley Davidson didn’t want to cross. But sell there? You betcha!
If our tariffs on Thailand's goods are not 60% somethings wrong.
They can, but to do so (at least in India’s case) would price the bike beyond pretty much anyone’s reach. Apart from a couple of baggers, most of the India Harleys including some of the Big Twins are sold for about $8-10k, which is still high but not unreasonable, and the Sportsters go for not much over $6k, which is affordable to the “middle class” there. If you add in the tariff India imposes on complete bikes, it would put the price of a base Sportster at more than $13k.
Instead, they build the bike up to the major-assembly point i.e. forks assembled, trans/engine mated, frame wired and assembled, and then everything crated up. Once in-country, the assembly factory just attaches the forks, mounts the engine in the frame, mounts the bodywork and wheels, and hooks up things like the brakes, clutch, etc.
That’s what I’ve always opined: match the highest tariff that any country puts on our stuff.
As long as they are not imported into the US, this is not a big issue.
Tariff would ENSURE that.
Speaking of tariffs, ANY nation that tariffs US products, or otherwise restricts the free flow of goods from the US, should have an equal tariff imposed on ANY and EVERY product they wish to export to the US.
Make it hurt. Bad.
And yes, we can play unfairly. We are the largest market in the world...by far. We can do whatever we wish in this arena.
“Harley rice burners?”
That will never happen.
91+ octane only. 95+ preferred. Leaded if you can get it.
Of course, if the pig falls over, plenty of people to lift it back up again. Doubt a single Thai could.
Are there seriously enough fat old losers in Southeast Asia that want to look like a herd of heroin addic criminal losers expressing their individuality by all dressing the lame in “officially licensed Harley gear” while riding 1930’s lawnmower technology, aptly named “hogs”?
Most of the Thailand motorcycles are between 110 - 125cc. However, big bikes are starting to be the rage here, especially with the opening of the Chang International Circuit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang_International_Circuit Which is just down the road from me.
So I hope the Harley's are actual HOGs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.