Posted on 07/25/2018 7:03:56 AM PDT by Red Badger
When the President of the United States is an incredibly powerful and successful businessman, there literally is nowhere to hide for companies choosing to invest their resources outside of our great nation.
What President Trump lacks in political experience, he more than makes up for in business acumen, and he has brought that incredible and extraordinarily unique spin to the Oval Office with him. Originally coined the “Trump Effect”, the fact that the President is one of modern history’s most consummate and prosperous real estate developers has propelled our American economy forward in ways that we could only dream about under democratic rule.
And it’s not only a boost for those companies choosing to engage with the American workforce either. Companies who defy the United States’ ingenuity are finding themselves suffering as well.
Harley-Davidson said Tuesday that international sales of its motorcycles grew while domestic sales decreased in the second quarter, after the company angered President Trump by announcing it would shift some U.S. production overseas in response to his trade agenda.
The Milwaukee-based company reported that motorcycle sales in the U.S. dropped 6.4 percent to 46,490 for the quarter that ended on June 30, while international sales rose 0.7 percent to nearly 31,938. European sales grew 3.6 percent and Latin American sales grew 9.1 percent, while sales in Asia dropped 7.1 percent.
Total revenue dropped slightly to $1.53 billion for the quarter, as overall motorcycle sales dropped 4 percent. Net income dropped 6.3 percent to $242 million.
The Americana-centric brand’s announcement about the exporting of production irked not only the President, but a great many Americans who saw the move as downright treachery.
If Harley Davidson believes that they can simply turn this around, after offending the American people so thoroughly, they ought to have a long conversation with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and ask him how that’s going for him.
Considering that domestic sales slumped 12% in the first quarter it looks like they're rebounding on the strength of their free trade stance!
The median age of all motorcycle riders is about 47 to 48 years old. It keeps going up. It was 32 in 1990 and 40 in 2009.
It keeps going up because young people aren’t buying bikes. Bike owners up to 18yo fell from 8% in 1990 to 2%. Owners 18-24yo fell from 16% to 6% in the same time period. So this is a problem for more than just Harley.
And I should mention Harley still sells by far more bikes in the US than any other manufacturer. About 30% of all new MC sales in the US are Harley’s. Next closest is Honda at 14%.
Like I said, this is a problem for all manufacturers.
You’d better go hide in the mountains...............
Yep!..................
Ouch!
Izzat one of those Russian BMW rip-offs?...............
Considering that Harley sold nearly 50% more bikes than BMW last year, I suppose the answer to your question is a lot. Especially in America where they sold 30% of all the bikes.
East European version of a BMW.
Ural Motorcycles, the world's leading maker of off-road ready sidecar motorcycles, featuring our legendary on-demand 2 wheel drive.
A friend of mine bought one..................
HD sales are dropping. BMW sales are increasing.
Per store sales are far greater with BMW. When available, people want quality BMW motorcycles over rattle trap low quality Harleys.
The Boomers are buying less. I know only a handful of under 40 that have a Harley, and they bought used.
BMW Motorrad sales were up globally last, but declined in the US. (Harley was up in Europe btw).
The change in BMW sales in the US last year would be noise in Harley figures.
For what it’s worth, the quality of my Harley is far superior to the BMW I rented in France. I only hope BMW bikes are of higher quality than their cars. If not, wow you shouldn’t be ripping on Harley quality.
Doesn’t sound good :(
And hipster BMW crossovers where the rider rides stiff like he has a piece of rebar stuck up his bum
I’m a former cafe style rider
Knee dragging and speed
I own BMW cars as well, and the quality of far higher than anything I’ve ever driven.
The bikes I see broken down on the side of the road are 99% of the time Harleys, new and old ones.
Every long distance ride I’ve ever been on the broken down bike has always been the Harley. On guy lost his shift rod. A shift rod. How the hell do you have such low quality metallurgy that you break a shift rod??
Harley, made in China and Mexico, assembled in the USA. $10,00 bike for $30,000. Suckers.
VULCAN® 1700 VOYAGER® ABS - $18,000 (Half that of Harley). Higher quality than Harley and with many more features, except it doesn't vibrate and sound silly.
Harleys are for the dummies that put playing cards in the spoke of their bikes as kids and never grew up.
Here in FL, the Outlaws are given a wide berth.......................
Here in Washington state its the Gypsy Jokers...
Your figures are incorrect. I’d say an Electra Glide Ultra Classic is a comparable machine. It is not twice the price. It’s $24k and comes standard with ABS and a 107ci engine (1750cc).
The new HD “Milwalkee Eight” engines all have counter-balancers. (The previous “Twin Cam” engines only had CB’s on the rigid-mounted engines.) They could have reduced the vibration to next to nothing, but market tests found that riders preferred quite a bit of vibration. So they dialed it into their market’s preferences.
Now as for quality, I’ve owned a Kawasaki machine before. Cheaply made with garbage material. Lots of pot metal and plastic. Same with my Suzuki’s. Their parts snap off with little pressure whereas things bend on Harley with their forged and billet parts.
While my Kawasaki was stolen before I could see just how reliable it was, the Suzuki’s engine spun a main bearing at a hair under 10,000 miles. I replaced the crank and rods myself, and like clockwork, the same bearing wiped at a hair over another 10,000 miles.
My Suzuki motocross bike was also made of cheap material, particularly the shift drum. My Honda sport bike has had its share of electrical issues.
Now my Harley? Most reliable machine I’ve ever owned. 40,000 trouble free miles so far. And the quality of the materials is not only superior to the Japanese bikes I’ve owned, but also there are no “fake” parts on a Harley.
Fake parts? My Suzuki crusier has a fake air filter cover, fake oil tank, fake engine covers, fake cylinder cooling fins and fake exhaust pipes covers.
All to look like a Harley which has a wet sump engine and a real oil tank, an air filter under the filter cover, real cooling fins, the sides of the engines could not be taken off without losing primary chain oil and the exhaust pipe covers take the exact route of the actual exhaust pipe.
Finally, I truly enjoyed that in the same sentence you compare Harley riders to kids and then call them “dummies.” Very mature.
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