Posted on 01/30/2018 11:52:04 AM PST by Red Badger
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
Harley-Davidson announced that it will close its Kansas City plant as the company moves to consolidate operations.
In the company's fourth-quarter earnings report, Harley-Davidson said that the Kansas City motorcycle plant would be consolidated with its plant in York, Pa.
Workers were reportedly told that the plant would close next year. A statement released from Harley-Davidson Tuesday morning said the plant would close in the third quarter of 2019.
"As we continue to improve our cost structure and maintain world-class manufacturing operations, we are launching a significant, multi-year manufacturing optimization initiative that is anchored in the consolidation of our Kansas City, Mo. final assembly operations into our York, Pa. final assembly plant.
"This decision was made after very careful consideration of our manufacturing footprint and the appropriate capacity given the current business environment.We are constantly evaluating capacity and our current U.S. capacity exceeds U.S. demand. Approximately 800 full-time, causal and contract positions will be impacted at the Kansas City plant. Layoffs are expected to begin mid-year and the facility will close in the third quarter of 2019. We anticipate an increase of approximately 450 full-time, casual and contractor positions will be added at our York facility, which will be expanded to support additional production.
"This was a decision we did not take lightly. The Kansas City plant has been assembling Harley-Davidson motorcycles since 1997, and our employees will leave a great legacy of quality, pride and manufacturing leadership. We are grateful to them and the Kansas City community for their many years of support and their service to our dealers and our riders."
Kansas City Mayor Sly James released a statement on the plant's closure:
"Although we are disappointed that Harley-Davidson will be closing its plant, its also important to realize there are more and more opportunities in our region everyday for new jobs with bright futures as well as opportunities for retraining. For example, our partnerships with LaunchCode and TechHire have led to hundreds of Kansas Citians becoming trained for IT and advanced manufacturing jobs with exciting futures, and projects like the new single terminal airport and downtown convention hotel will require thousands of skilled workers."
Yeah i heard about that, front end design at least was innovative. I ride both a 1995 and a 1993 and have 4 more older ones as projects.
I mean build it in America, or else a tariff will get place on it i think.
Yep .... forgot about the cost of new hogs.
Reagan’s years.
Over priced, old 1938 engine design, expensive parts, chain drive, ............................
Belt drive!...............hey, they’re up to 1980!.................
Agreed. Most everyone I see on these things are 60+ years old. For one thing, wealthy retirees are the only ones who can afford them. The aftermarket business is very high. Most older people buy them because their friends have one. They ride it a few times and find they dont like it as much as they thought.
It really is a dying business model.
“metrosexual fags “
Accountants and dentists seem to ride them. Not many people can afford a $27,000 motorcycle.
Way back when Reagan inadvertently caused Japanese bike manufacturers to increase production of their products in the U.S. (and build more factories, incidentally).... Ahh, the good old days.
Just like the movie Wild Hogs.
They bought the design rights to the "TriHawk" of which something like 99 were made in the mid 80's. Think Lotus 7 with 3 wheels to get around auto-regs, and did the skid pad better than the Vette back in the day.
Whilst they would need to re-engine it to one of theirs, it is a good design, I am flummoxed about this business decision....
The company is now run by Harvard MBAs who don’t know crap about motorcycles.......................
They have so much potential. How about Mil-Spec bikes / UTV burning heavy fuel, they have the engineering expertise and the checks never bounce. The MBA's better wake up, us boomers are thinning out and they need something beyond that natural market.
They have taken the company and tried to make it run like a Car dealership.
The HD dealership here went from a small building with a few bikes in the showroom, to a huge building with hundreds of bikes on the parking lot in rows upon rows.
That is NOT the way to sell motorcycles.......................
Harvard MBAs don’t know crap about anything except torpedoing their employers.
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