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[KGB]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a10201666/harley-davidson-ducati/

[coloradotom]

Interesting. More telling is that BMW want's no part of it.

[charles05663]

Maybe it will be a reenactment of the Battle of Buell Run...

 

[Twolanerider]

Buell.  MV Augusta.  Harley has done soooo well with its forays in to sport or other bikes types before.  Hell, they even sold boats a bunch of years ago.  That didn't float either.

Mother Harley can barely manage its own niche barely satisfactorily.  It's not like they really need to split their focus again.....

[Ironhorse]

Maybe it will be a reenactment of the Battle of Buell Run...

 

Or as they say in the south, the battle of "Mans asses". You know,...for saddle comfort.

[coloradotom]

Buell.  MV Augusta.  Harley has done soooo well with its forays in to sport or other bikes types before.  Hell, they even sold boats a bunch of years ago.  That didn't float either.

Mother Harley can barely manage its own niche barely satisfactorily.  It's not like they really need to split their focus again.....

Well, they've been heading towards AMF v2 for some time now... Maybe they should by a company that makes nice walking shoes while they're at it.

[charles05663]

Well, they've been heading towards AMF v2 for some time now... Maybe they should by a company that makes nice walking shoes while they're at it.

I was thinking that and walkers too with little tennis balls on the back legs and flames on the sides.  Heaven knows with the average age of the Harley rider this will be their next big market.

 

[coloradotom]

I was thinking that and walkers too with little tennis balls on the back legs and flames on the sides.  Heaven knows with the average age of the Harley rider this will be their next big market.

 

And the gold carts again! You know to get around those giant retirement complexes.

[Twolanerider]

I was thinking that and walkers too with little tennis balls on the back legs and flames on the sides.  Heaven knows with the average age of the Harley rider this will be their next big market.

 

Oh good grief; what a snowball that could start.  That's only the tip of the market!

HarleyWorld:  The Retirement Village for Those Who Previously Dreamed They Were BadAss.

See "Sportster Town" for those seeking higher density and less expensive senior accommodations while still looking forward to every Thursday night's walker races and the weekly (bus) ride to Cracker Barrel!"  For those still unsure of their upcoming status we highly suggest "Dyna-ville."  We were never quite sure what to make of this one either!

If you've still got both hips and eat before 4:00 PM on weekdays you should definitely consider our "Softail Community."  You can relax a little, take advantage of the OTB in our Screamin Eagle Rec Center, swim, walk the "Twin Cam Trail" and wear your leathers every Tuesday night on the "Springer Outing" to Golden Corral!

If retirement in comfort while seeing the sites is your goal definitely check out our "Touring RV Park."  Short term or long term rental spaces available.  All hook ups.  All synthetic fluids for any tanks.  Enjoy the "Road King Trail" for your evening post hip replacement PT walks and see America's Highways with nightly showings of such greats as "On Any Sunday," "Easy Rider," "The Motorcycle Diaries" and anything by Steve McQueen nightly in the Tour Guide Lounge and Pavilion (Screamin' Eagle appetizers extra).

 

[Road Dad]

I understand why WV is selling. That was just a matter of time after exit of CEO. Does not fit with BMW, no great surprise there.

I don't believe HD will buy them, not a good fit. (We are not talking an asset purchase, that would change things)

[mark]

I can see why BMW isn't interested...they'd be competing with themselves.  Based on their track record, HD always fumbles when stepping into the sport bike market. 

[grc]

Harley management needs to learn how to run Harley properly before acquiring another motorcycle company.  And as a person who has always admired Ducati's, I'd hate to see Harley screw that brand up.

Jerry

[muddypaws]

Harley get your own house in order first.

[ultrarider123]

Harley get your own house in order first.

Well said.  The old mote and beam analogy from Mathew 7:
3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

[G 97]

Harley must diversify if it wants to remain relevant.  I honestly think that Harley is serious about letting Ducati operate the way it has been operating. The current CEO of Harley, Matt Levatich was the head guy over seeing the MV Augusta acquisition. I have to believe several lessons were learned during what turned out to be a debacle for Harley. Admitingly, the turn down in the economy didn't play well with the timing of this purchase but looking back its clear to see several critical mistakes were made.

Ducati represents a lot of benefits that quiet simply MV Augusta didn't possess. The most critical being the dealer network. Ducati's current dealer network has been gradually transformed and improved to where it is, in many cases, industry leading. Harley can simply plug and play into this current situation with out even having to do anything with their current dealer network. I don't see Harley inter-mingling these two brands and I see zero likely hood of any dealer crossover like what they did with Buell and to a lessor extent MV.

Harley shutting down Buell and jettisoning MV had much to do with the economic turndown at the time rather than them being mis managed.  Harley's management team is also vastly improved and several prior roadblocks that existed in the past don't exist today.  There is little doubt in my mind that Harley can succeed with this acquisition.  In a lot of ways they have little choice as their core demographic customer continues to age while making fewer purchases.  If the MoCo wants to be viable in the future they must diversify. 

[pvanwagner]

This already exists.  Pretty sure you just described the HOG themed cruise.

Oh good grief; what a snowball that could start.  That's only the tip of the market!

HarleyWorld:  The Retirement Village for Those Who Previously Dreamed They Were BadAss.

See "Sportster Town" for those seeking higher density and less expensive senior accommodations while still looking forward to every Thursday night's walker races and the weekly (bus) ride to Cracker Barrel!"  For those still unsure of their upcoming status we highly suggest "Dyna-ville."  We were never quite sure what to make of this one either!

If you've still got both hips and eat before 4:00 PM on weekdays you should definitely consider our "Softail Community."  You can relax a little, take advantage of the OTB in our Screamin Eagle Rec Center, swim, walk the "Twin Cam Trail" and wear your leathers every Tuesday night on the "Springer Outing" to Golden Corral!

If retirement in comfort while seeing the sites is your goal definitely check out our "Touring RV Park."  Short term or long term rental spaces available.  All hook ups.  All synthetic fluids for any tanks.  Enjoy the "Road King Trail" for your evening post hip replacement PT walks and see America's Highways with nightly showings of such greats as "On Any Sunday," "Easy Rider," "The Motorcycle Diaries" and anything by Steve McQueen nightly in the Tour Guide Lounge and Pavilion (Screamin' Eagle appetizers extra).

[iski]

Oh good grief; what a snowball that could start.  That's only the tip of the market!

HarleyWorld:  The Retirement Village for Those Who Previously Dreamed They Were BadAss.

See "Sportster Town" for those seeking higher density and less expensive senior accommodations while still looking forward to every Thursday night's walker races and the weekly (bus) ride to Cracker Barrel!"  For those still unsure of their upcoming status we highly suggest "Dyna-ville."  We were never quite sure what to make of this one either!

If you've still got both hips and eat before 4:00 PM on weekdays you should definitely consider our "Softail Community."  You can relax a little, take advantage of the OTB in our Screamin Eagle Rec Center, swim, walk the "Twin Cam Trail" and wear your leathers every Tuesday night on the "Springer Outing" to Golden Corral!

If retirement in comfort while seeing the sites is your goal definitely check out our "Touring RV Park."  Short term or long term rental spaces available.  All hook ups.  All synthetic fluids for any tanks.  Enjoy the "Road King Trail" for your evening post hip replacement PT walks and see America's Highways with nightly showings of such greats as "On Any Sunday," "Easy Rider," "The Motorcycle Diaries" and anything by Steve McQueen nightly in the Tour Guide Lounge and Pavilion (Screamin' Eagle appetizers extra).

Will there be a rally every year where we can pay $45 & get a "free" pin and a semi cold spaghetti dinner?     If not, probably a deal breaker. 

[RGlideKid]

Harley get your own house in order first.

I couldn't agree more.  I've seen companies go this route before.  They leave you wondering if they're thinking that a new acquisition will somehow magically solve the problems at home.  While I'm pretty sure that isn't the thought process going on at the MoCo, they do have issues that need addressing and adding a new acquisition to the mix could only divert attentions.
I saw this happen in a very detrimental way with the last corporation I worked for.  They had so many problems with the core business but then decided to add a new $800 million buy of a company that was arguably better left to die on its own.  Now they're closing down division after division with major layoffs to keep everything afloat.

[blacktop]

Harley management needs to learn how to run Harley properly before acquiring another motorcycle company.  And as a person who has always admired Ducati's, I'd hate to see Harley screw that brand up.

Jerry

Perhaps... maybe... Ducati will teach them a thing or 2!

[G 97]

Except Ducati is far from a fledgling company and is no where close to dying nor does it need rescuing.   Plus Harley will not be integrating Ducati into any of their existing manufacturing, dealer organization or any other current Harley business entity.   

Ducati will remain a wholey owned subsidiary of Harley.  It will maintain its own identy and operate outside and separate from Harley.  Just as it currently is doing under the ownership of the VW group. 

[Cat Eye]

If I recall correctly, there was a Ducati at our NMITM GTG last month.

Maybe he was trolling to see if we would be a good fit?

I'm wonder how I might look in the those tight Italian leather pants?

[Road Dad]

Ducati revenue last year was around €700M with a EBIT of 8-9%. Not a great result for a US company but okay for a German owned Italian company considering their investments.

HD is 8-9 times their size in revenue and a little higher EBITDA as well.

Not sure how you know what they plan to do and how they plan to incorpare an aquesition. I assume it's a guess, if you actually work for HD and just shared confidential information you better hope they don't figure out who G 97 is.

Except Ducati is far from a fledgling company and is no where close to dying nor does it need rescuing.   Plus Harley will not be integrating Ducati into any of their existing manufacturing, dealer organization or any other current Harley business entity.   

Ducati will remain a wholey owned subsidiary of Harley.  It will maintain its own identy and operate outside and separate from Harley.  Just as it currently is doing under the ownership of the VW group.

[longlast]

Reuters reports that long-rumored deal worth $1.67 billion is on the horizon for U.S. and Italian motorcycle makers.
A big shake-up may soon cause some major restructuring in the world of top motorcycle makers. In a new media blast, Reuters, via unnamed sources, confirms as true the long-standing rumors that Harley-Davidson is readying to buy one of the iconic company’s biggest rivals, Italian brand Ducati. If Harley does end up outbidding other interested companies from around the world, like India’s Bajaj Auto, the Ducati deal could be worth $1.67 billion, according to Reuters.



Although Reuters’ new revelations have the global motorcycle world buzzing, the Ducati deal does not seem to be something that is going to close any time soon, and probably not by the end of the year. According Ducati’s parent company, Volkswagon, the Italian motorcycle brand’s decision makers are in no rush and want to wait until they can secure the right buyer. Meanwhile, Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company is expected to place a bid as early as next month.

The delay could be beneficial for Harley-Davidson and provide time for the company to put together its best pitch. However, the company’s decision makers can rest a little easier knowing that some serious competition has already publicly acknowledged that they are bowing out of any potential bidding war. Those companies include Japanese motorcycle makers Honda and Suzuki and Germany’s BMW.

Harley-Davidson - Ducati

Ducati made headlines for a previous sale in 2012, when it was acquired by Audi, the luxury vehicle division of Volkswagon. That deal reportedly cost Volkswagon $1.12 billion.

Tags: buy out, ducati, Harley Davidson
 

[phato1]

HD owned MV Agusta for a few years and really wasn't sure what to do with the company. ended up selling it  - for about what they paid if not at a loss - if I remember correctly. I will give them credit for spending a bunch of cash on new tooling and other factory improvements they made at MV, but HD chose to "cut and run" before the tree was able to bear fruit.

Sad to say I don't think HD knows what to do in the sportbike arena, Buell is a prime example of the lack of commitment and/or knowledge to anything outside their "core" business - which is the heavy weight cruiser/touring motorcycle.

[Road Dad]

And that (MV Augusta) was how many leadership teams ago?  Time changes. HD need to change, their customers are old and dying off.  Look 20 year forward and about 70% of their current customers are dead.

HD owned MV Agusta for a few years and really wasn't sure what to do with the company. ended up selling it  - for about what they paid if not at a loss - if I remember correctly. I will give them credit for spending a bunch of cash on new tooling and other factory improvements they made at MV, but HD chose to "cut and run" before the tree was able to bear fruit.

Sad to say I don't think HD knows what to do in the sportbike arena, Buell is a prime example of the lack of commitment and/or knowledge to anything outside their "core" business - which is the heavy weight cruiser/touring motorcycle.

[geezerglide]

VOLKSWAGEN lacks the Votes to Sell Ducati

With the German company's Labor Unions accounting for half of the board seats and very unenthusiastic about selling DUCATI to harley Davidson or anyone.

So it seems like the deal may not go ahead.

geezerglide