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[ultrarider123]

Source?

I'm guessing that same, pesky pool boy.....

[dartman]

Source?

Dropped bike off for service yesterday, Dealer has an update he received

Harley is streamlining it's lineup of motorcycles for 2014 by dropping six bikes from their lineup for 2014. the changes are supposed to reduce model complexity in showrooms,

dropped for 2014 XR1200X Sportster, the FXS Softail Blackline, and the FLHTC Electra Glide for good. The FLHRC Road King Classic will be sold internationally but only the standard will be the US.

Both the FLTRX Road Glide Custom and the FLTRU Road Glide Ultra won't be available in 2014, but only temporarily: both models are getting a redesign and update. They should be back by 2015 barring any new developments.

No Information as yet on the CVO lineup.

[WildClyde]

Does anyone know if Harley is going to announce the 2014 lineup before Sturgis? Remember that last year they decided to forgo the announcement until after Sturgis which IMHO was a marketing disaster.

Clyde

[HJP]

My understanding is that the dealers meeting is after Sturgis again this year.  No new Harleys again at Sturgis this year.  Will have to check out the new Indian Chief that is being rolled out at Sturgis this year. 

[WildClyde]

I guess 416,000+ potential customers viewing your new product line up close does not get the bean-counters excited.

Was there a change in the Marketing dept. two years ago? I remember hearing that last year some dealers felt that introducing the new product line in the peak selling season hurt sales. That is not intuitive to me - you would think that it would increase sales. My local dealer felt that the change last year was ill-advised.

Is Harley moving to a new cars get introduced in the Fall so motorcycles should be too marketing model?

Sturgis Attendance Source: http://www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com/info-guide/faq.php

[Ghost Rider]

I guess 416,000+ potential customers viewing your new product line up close does not get the bean-counters excited.

I can't speak for all "bean-counters" but this is one CPA that gets pretty darn excited about Sturgis every year.   

[WildClyde]

Was there a change in the Marketing dept. two years ago?

The answer is that a change was made in 2007, and the new marketing guy came from General Motors. His bio follows along with a link to a YouTube video where he says: "...so put customer right at the heart of it. Use them as the inspiration as we do in the rest of our business and see what comes out. And so it started a little bit an experiment as most of these things do, and it was impressive - the ideas coming from the people who are most emotionally invested in the brand were impressive. They knew how to talk to themselves - the things that they were interested in, and so, you know, we were able to turn the majority of our creative development over to our fans to the place we call the fan machine. And it's very rich".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c5nBtF-AGU

Mark-Hans Richer

Senior Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer
Harley-Davidson Incorporated

Mark-Hans Richer is Senior Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer for Harley-Davidson, Incorporated, with primary responsibility for overseeing all global marketing activities including promotions and advertising, motorcycle product planning, the Harley-Davidson Museum, and the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.).

Prior to joining Harley-Davidson as Chief Marketing Officer in July, 2007, Richer held numerous marketing and advertising positions at General Motors. In November 2006 he was inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Hall of Achievement for his career of high-impact, non-traditional marketing approaches. These include two Cannes Gold Lion-awarded marketing programs while at Pontiac, and prior successes helping lead advertising and promotions at GMC and Chevy Trucks. Richer also has previously won three Effies, the PMA Super Reggie, Promo Magazines' interactive promotion of the year and a Kelly Award for best national print.

Prior to GM, Richer served as the Director, Latin America for the McDonald's account at DDB Needham Advertising and served in different roles over eight years working on consumer goods brands as SC Johnson Wax and General Mills.

Richer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Northwestern University and an MBA from the University of Michigan. Richer is a motorcycle enthusiast of 24 years, and the proud owner of Harley-Davidson V-Rod Muscle and Road Glide Custom motorcycles.

[WYD OPN]

The dealer meeting has been pushed back for a simple reason.  In years past, the meeting had been moved earlier because dealers and customers were screaming for product to supply the demand.  The market dropped overall and has rebounded along with the economy.  But dealers wanted the intro date pushed back to move their current product.

The 110th-intro last year was the perfect opportunity to slide the dealer meeting back from July to August for model introduction.  It gives the bulk of the current riding season for current MY sales, but still with the opportunity for some early-production next-MY sales and riding time.

[StreetDog]

 IMO... Mark-Han Richer is really missing the mark on this decision. Being from the car background I guess he does not realize the affect of marketing to over 400,000 people in one week at the Sturgis rally. I am willing to bet that Polaris understands this and that they will sale more than a few new Indian bikes that week. Especially if the quality is superior to the Harley crap MOCO has been selling the last few years.

[nevadabob]

  HARSH ! 

[grayghost731]

IMO... Mark-Han Richer is really missing the mark on this decision. Being from the car background I guess he does not realize the affect of marketing to over 400,000 people in one week at the Sturgis rally. I am willing to bet that Polaris understands this and that they will sale more than a few new Indian bikes that week. Especially if the quality is superior to the Harley crap MOCO has been selling the last few years.

Missing the mark... Most people at the Big Rallies already drank the Kool-aid, There Loyal to Harley!

He's going for a whole New Younger Market and Females    We Will See  how it goes  

Harley has  appeal to people who want to customize there bike, with out building it from scratch.

[bbrown]

Last year in Sturgis the Victory tent was packed as it will be this year with all the interest in the 2014 Indians.  Meanwhile there fewer people in the Harley tents by comparison.  I attended the big event at the Museum when they rolled the 2013s and it was well attended but there were no 400,000 people there.

I heard this change of date was done to help the dealers clear out the current year bikes before interest peaks on the new models.  They must not care if interest instead peaks toward the Indian and others

[1abastarsmda]

Last year in Sturgis the Victory tent was packed as it will be this year with all the interest in the 2014 Indians.  Meanwhile there fewer people in the Harley tents by comparison.  I attended the big event at the Museum when they rolled the 2013s and it was well attended but there were no 400,000 people there.

I heard this change of date was done to help the dealers clear out the current year bikes before interest peaks on the new models.  They must not care if interest instead peaks toward the Indian and others

Consider the fact that you started this thread way back on March 4th (over 4 months ago).  I'm asking you to look at yourself only and then tell me if your interest in seeing the 2014 Harleys stops when they aren't debuted at Sturgis.  Obviously, the answer is no.  Impatient and can't wait to see them looks like the answer would be yes.  Disappointed...probably.  Are you planning on pulling the trigger and buying an Indian without seeing the new Harleys?  Probably not, but if you were, then you would probably buy the Indian if you were that impressed with it, regardless of what Harley does.  My point is that trying to make this into some kind of argument that this is some huge marketing mistake by Harley is a bunch of poppycock.  Harley already has your attention and they very well know it.  Face it, most of us know that our bikes are not the best built machines sold by a long stretch, yet we pay top dollar for them while already knowing that we are going to make all kinds of changes to them.  Apparently, we don't even like the bikes as they are sold.  We need to make numerous changes to them and still aren't satisfied and we continue to look for new ways to change them.  My friend, if that isn't marketing genius, I don't know what it is.  If anything, it might take the person thinking about popping for the Indian and delay their purchase and give them some time to think about what they are doing, while they wait to see the new Harleys.  I'm just as anxious to see the new Harley lineup as everybody else is.  Yes, they have their hook in me too.  But the anticipation doesn't fade, it grows as we get nearer the release.  I for one will be disappointed if we don't see at least one water-cooled model this year (excluding the Vrod of course).  We all know it's coming one of these years, and I would like to see a finished product to see what they actually come up with.  Then I can go back to waiting to see if they have a lot of bugs to work out and decide how long to wait to own one.

[Eccool]

(This is not directed at anyone in particular).  I really don't understand what all of the enthusiasm is about for a water cooled engine.  Harley debuted the V-Rod and it bombed.  A water cooled tourer might do better, I'm not sure.  There are plenty of water cooled bikes available if somebody wants one.

[grayghost731]

Missing the mark... Most people at the Big Rallies already drank the Kool-aid, There Loyal to Harley!

He's going for a whole New Younger Market and Females    We Will See  how it goes 

Harley has  appeal to people who want to customize there bike, with out building it from scratch.

www.youtube.com  Harley wheelies 11     This is the New Harley Generation !