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[grc]

............................................................................
Diedrich said slower production will protect the brand and help dealers avoid sales promotions just to clear inventory.

"Protecting the brand at Harley is job number one," Diedrich said. "It's a very high-quality brand and that's the most important thing."

..............................................................................

Everyone realizes of course that the statement "It's a very high quality brand" is not the same thing as stating the products are high quality.  The Harley-Davidson brand currently enjoys a large and loyal following, regardless of the actual product quality.  In a society that values form over function, not surprising at all.  But, in a society that can also be very fickle, it's not a condition that's guaranteed to continue indefinitely.

Jerry

[DCFIREMANN]

You're absolutely right...I was in a dealership on Monday, looking into buying a street glide for a commuter...when I walked in there, there were so many bikes on the floor that you could barely walk around them...over in the corner I saw two 08 SERKs, an 08 SEDyna, and an 08 SE Springer.  When the sales lady walked me back through the service department, they had probably another 100 new motorcycles sitting there waiting to go out on the floor, including a Canyon Copper 08 SEUC.   I commented that I'd never seen so many SE's in a dealership at one time.  She told me that she "thought" the SEUC was sold and that's why it was in the back room.  Before I left she told me that whatever any dealer around was offering they would match or beat to get my business...so this may be a good time for me to buy the Street Glide (had my eye on a crimson red one) for below MSRP.    I think they'd do just about anything, within reason, to move a bike right now.

     

You must have been at Whitts. They have another 150 plus sitting in a warehouse not even set up as of yet. They also have had their quota cut by 70%.

I is real ugly out there for the dealers. But they have had it coming. I hope half of them lose their A$$!!!!!

Be Safe

THE DAWG

[DCFIREMANN]

What is going to happen with all of the dealer inventory when the 2008s hit the dealer floors in Mid July especially the way the economy is affecting people in different parts of the US. Stay tuned for great bargains.

geezerglide

You mean 2009's!!!!

Be Safe

THE DAWG

[sadunbar]

The 110 design team is three people.   

More news

Diedrich said slower production will protect the brand and help dealers avoid sales promotions just to clear inventory.

"Protecting the brand at Harley is job number one," Diedrich said. "It's a very high-quality brand and that's the most important thing."

To achieve the cuts, Harley will temporarily idle plants and change daily production rates, Ziemer said. These changes will result in the loss of about 370 unionized employees over the next several months, he said. About 80 percent of those cuts will be at the company's largest plant, in York, Pa., which has more than 2,770 hourly workers. About 14 percent of the cuts will be at plants in Milwaukee, the company said. It's not clear where the remainder will be. The company has plants throughout Wisconsin and in Kansas City, though spokesman Bob Klein said it appeared Kansas City wouldn't be affected.

Could be an interesting tour at York.

Layoffs can't help quality.

Moe, Curly and ....

[RedDevil]

You must have been at Whitts. They have another 150 plus sitting in a warehouse not even set up as of yet. They also have had their quota cut by 70%.

I is real ugly out there for the dealers. But they have had it coming. I hope half of them lose their A$$!!!!!

Be Safe

THE DAWG

I'll have to check out Whitts.  My wife and I were up in Dumfries and stopped in at East Coast.  They're under completely new management and they're trying to improve on the lousy rep they have as a dealer.   Might be a good time to get a deal on a bike out of them....

   

[geezerglide]

You mean 2009's!!!!

Be Safe

THE DAWG

Your right, old timers setting in.

geezerglide

[DCFIREMANN]

Your right, old timers setting in.geezerglide

You mean SOMETIMERS!!!!!! And if it keeps up we can call it ALLTIMERS!!!!!

It's all good.

Be Safe

THE DAWG

[REGGAB]

The way the economy is going there are going to be less people spending money on toys (bikes). There will be a lot of changes coming unless things change.

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

                      "Will it go 'round in circles?  Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky.........................."  BILLY PRESTON, BRUCE FISHER (1972)

[SBB]

I wanted to add this thought to this thread.
The economy is slowing and Harley is cutting back.
I (IMHO) think it has nothing to do with quality or the lack thereof.
Everything is slowing down.

But please keep this thought in mind.
In a mans world the worse thing you can do to him is hurt his family.
The second worse thing you can do is take away his job.
There are a lot of people losing their jobs, not because they are bad or not worth a chit, it's a result of the economic condition of the economy. Please, don't anyone cheer when someone loses their job.
It could be you, a loved one or a friend.
And there is no joy in that!

Chip

[Lennyiti]

Very well put.

[AXIL]

ditto

[NukeIT]

I wanted to add this thought to this thread.
The economy is slowing and Harley is cutting back.
I (IMHO) think it has nothing to do with quality or the lack thereof.
Everything is slowing down.

But please keep this thought in mind.
In a mans world the worse thing you can do to him is hurt his family.
The second worse thing you can do is take away his job.
There are a lot of people losing their jobs, not because they are bad or not worth a chit, it's a result of the economic condition of the economy. Please, don't anyone cheer when someone loses their job.
It could be you, a loved one or a friend.
And there is no joy in that!

Chip

You have a point, the man at the bottom always seems to suffer the most, while the company and CEO still live big

[skreminegul07]

The ones on the bottom always suffer.  These jobs are the good union manaufacturing jobs that go away and never return.  York has already suffered a large amount of these jobs dissappearing in the recent decade.
They only build what someone else designs.  There has been no evidence here of assembly quality in the 110s.

The MOCO has put off raising MSRP despite the increases in benefits, energy, steel, etc. while still being attractive to Wall Street.  I think the only way to maintain profit margin for the investors (management bonuses) and not raise MSRP is to lower cost of goods sold by using inferior or marginal parts from China.
So we have happy investors and somewhat happy employess and pissed off customers.  This is not a formula with a future.

[FNGw/08SERK]

I for one would like to see the overcompensated American CEO's bear some of the brunt instead of the working guy trying to support his family.

James L. Ziemer     
Chief Executive Officer, President and Director, Harley-Davidson, Inc. 2323
Age Total Annual Compensation This person is connected to 23 board members in 2 different organizations across 2 different industries.

See Board Relationships
57 $875,534 USD
As of Fiscal Year 2007

BACKGROUND*
James L. Ziemer has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Harley-Davidson Inc. since April 30, 2005. Mr. Ziemer served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Harley-Davidson Inc., from December 1990 to April 2005. His career at Harley-Davidson has spanned more then 38 years. Mr. Ziemer has been Director of Harley-Davidson Inc., since December 2004 and Textron Inc., since March 1, 2007. He served as President of The Harley-Davidson Foundation Inc. from ... 1993 to 2006.

Read Full Background

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS*
3700 West Juneau Avenue
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53208

United States

Phone: 414-342-4680
Fax: 414-343-4621
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBERSHIPS*
2007-Present
Director and Member of Audit Committee
Textron Inc.
2005-Present
Chief Executive Officer, President and Director
Harley-Davidson, Inc.
EDUCATION*
There is no Education data available.
OTHER AFFILIATIONS*
Textron Inc. ANNUAL COMPENSATION*
Salary $875,534
Total Annual Compensation $875,534

STOCK OPTIONS*
Restricted Stock Awards $928,103
All Other Compensation $76,011
Exercisable Options 226,211
Exercisable Values $815,254
Unexercisable Options 211,654
Total Value of Options $815,254
Total Number of Options 437,865

TOTAL COMPENSATION*
Total Annual Cash Compensation $875,534
Total Short Term Compensation $875,534
Other Long Term Compensation $1,004,114
Total Calculated Compensation $4,447,713
 

[DCFIREMANN]

I wanted to add this thought to this thread.
The economy is slowing and Harley is cutting back.
I (IMHO) think it has nothing to do with quality or the lack thereof.
Everything is slowing down.

But please keep this thought in mind.
In a mans world the worse thing you can do to him is hurt his family.
The second worse thing you can do is take away his job.
There are a lot of people losing their jobs, not because they are bad or not worth a chit, it's a result of the economic condition of the economy. Please, don't anyone cheer when someone loses their job.
It could be you, a loved one or a friend.
And there is no joy in that!

Chip

Chip I have to agree with you. It is the working man that is going to take it. The problem I have is with the owners of the Dealerships. They have used and abused us for 18 plus years. A good friend of mine works at at dealership. They had a company meeting a few weeks ago. The owner made the statement he really didn't care what happened to anyone else that worked there, he has a lot of money and didn't need any of them.

Now how do you treat your employees like that? It is people like that, that have ruined this industry.

Be Safe

THE DAWG