| Author | Message | ||
     Koz5150 |
http://www.jsonline.com/business/71641417.html Harley sales slow, inventories rising Harley-Davidson Inc. motorcycle sales are rumbling along in low gear as the riding season winds down across much of the country and consumers continue to be cautious in their spending. From October through early November, sales of new Harleys were down 25% to 30% from a year ago, according to a motorcycle dealership survey released Monday by Robert W. Baird & Co. Used bike sales fell just 7%, as they were less affected by the recession, the report notes. Inventories of new Harleys increased even as the motorcycle company slashed production. The average U.S. Harley-Davidson dealership had 54 bikes in September, up from 38 a year earlier, the Baird report says. "Most dealers are disappointed with low levels of marketing/advertising and a lack of Harley promotions," Baird analyst Craig Kennison wrote in his analysis of the survey. There are too many leftover bikes from 2009, one survey respondent wrote. "Slow, slow, slow, and bike financing is very difficult," another dealer said. Harley will release its fourth-quarter results in January and does not comment on analysts' reports. The company's U.S. dealers are on track to sell 21,000 to 22,000 bikes in the quarter, slightly below estimates, according to the Baird report. Fifty-eight percent of the dealers surveyed were selling Harleys below the suggested retail price, up from 52% a year ago. Discounting has become more common as some dealers have too many bikes. "Everyone is just trying to survive," one dealer said in the Baird survey. "Harley is dead in the water. They should be offering rebates at this time of the year," another dealer was quoted as saying. Local Harley dealers say the company has done a good job of balancing motorcycle supply and demand, cutting production so that dealerships aren't flooded with bikes they can't sell in difficult times. Some of the company's most popular motorcycles, including expensive touring models, are hard to get, said Kirk Topel, president of Hal's Harley-Davidson in New Berlin. "And those, when you get them, are selling for the full list price," said Topel, who was not part of the Baird survey. Harley dealers expect motorcycle sales to be flat or down about 10% in 2010, according to the survey. Earlier, Harley said it was idling production at its Kansas City, Mo., plant for about three months. The company also has cut production at its Milwaukee and York, Pa., plants. More than 2,500 Harley-Davidson employees have lost their jobs in the recession. The company had to slash costs, said George Van Horn, senior analyst with IBISWorld Inc., a Los Angeles research firm that follows the motorcycle industry. "Most of the cuts have been textbook examples of what a company does when its market shrinks this fast," Van Horn said. "You could read into Harley's decisions that the company isn't overly optimistic about things turning around quickly." The maker of Fat Boy and Softail motorcycles will be well positioned when the economy strengthens, according to Kennison. "Retail trends remain soft, but it's the off season," he wrote. "Meanwhile, we are focused on the turnaround" and the potential for the company to earn $2.50 a share in 2011. Dealers have to do more promotions but also have to be careful about discounts, said Scott Houpt, vice president and general manager of Suburban Harley-Davidson in Thiensville. "The market isn't what it used to be, but I think that Harley-Davidson and the dealer network have been proactive in getting through this," Houpt said. In the Baird survey, Harley dealers also were asked what they thought about the company's decision to shut down Buell Motorcycle Co., based in East Troy, and the decision to sell the MV Agusta brand of bikes acquired in 2008. "I could care less, but it does give us a black eye of failure," one dealer wrote. Another dealer said: "I do not like either decision. I think we were finally making a profit with Buell, getting great reviews, and HD cut it off." | ||
| Jammin_joules |
Right now looking at my November sales board, 57% of my November sales have been Buell, 56% of my deposits on pre-solds are Buell, but some of those are likely to go unsold because of availability, or lack there of. Now, that is in units, and would be no where near as slanted toward Buell if profit margins were ratioed. Number of units means didily if you don;t make money at them. Still, it is quite telling that the demand was out there, if you slashed the price demand turned to sales. So maybe some cost reductions, or lower price point models introduced for 2009 and maybe sales would have not so easily been rationalized off by Wandell? Heck, on our inventory, I was taking a lot of low ball offers just to move Buells. Problem was, not enough offers. Oh well, water under the bridge.  | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
This was in yesterdays Business Section of the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinal. What was really cool, and unless you saw the paper, was that the announcement of EBR was on the same front page! |
