| Author | Message | ||
     Danger_dave |
Indeed I don't know the details and the money is the salient point. But the MV Agusta purchase meeting their previously stated goal of attracting a younger market due to their aging existing buyer, diversification etc etc are still in order. Same that the circumstances now are different to when they made the purchasing decision. I'm not defending anyone. Nor am I emotional about it. (Message edited by danger_dave on August 06, 2010) | ||
| Steveford |
Harley Davidson is a very strange company which makes some very odd decisions. I would love to be a fly on the wall in Wandell's office... | ||
| Ratbuell |
So...what we're learning here is, bowling companies don't do well when they own Harley. Environmental Controls companies don't do well when they own Harley. Maybe they should try something RADICAL - LET MOTORCYCLE PEOPLE OWN HARLEY. It worked once...for a while. Then the Fashion Show took over... | ||
| Danger_dave |
Maybe when corporations get large enough the adage that 'none of us is as stupid as all of us' applies. | ||
| Danger_dave |
I should have used that in the good advice thread. | ||
| Swampy |
Ted Nugent "Here i was criss-crossing the country in a dilapidated tour bus, and my investment agents were traversing the globe in a private Leer Jet investing my money in Clydesdales" Kinda sounds like Wandell, making a bazillion dollars living high on the hog all the while bleeding the hog dry. Stop the insanity! | ||
| Xb1125r |
ratbuell that would never happen becuase corporate world id runned by Harvard, yale etc grads. look at out country they thought obama knew what he was doign becuase he was a harvard grad. they are just a bunch rich idiots, and they control all the companies | ||
| Just_ziptab |
You just have to wonder if they sold it "for cheap" just to spite the Buell enthusiasts. Wouldn't put it past them.........../ | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
nah... somebodies pockets got lined with the shareholders money on that deal | ||
| Whisperstealth |
I truly believe Buell getting shut down was and is conspiracy. Why are so many other companies dumping millions into the adventure game. Why dump a company that was at or ahead of the curve, and gaining market share, in the industry's fastest growing segment??? It's about outside influences. MV, it's not funny, or sad, it's fishy. | ||
| Danger_dave |
AND I get to use the funny picture. http://www.kiwirider.co.nz | ||
| Brumbear |
Froggy give Dave the big light he forgot it  | ||
| Swampy |
The rest of the story: From KIWI RIDER "MILWAUKEE, Aug. 6, 2010 -- Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) has concluded the sale of its subsidiary, MV Agusta, to Claudio Castiglioni and his wholly owned holding company, MV Agusta Motor Holding, S.r.l., effective today. Castiglioni is the former owner of the Italian motorcycle maker and has served as MV Agusta's chairman since 2008, when Harley-Davidson acquired the company. In the agreement to buy back MV Agusta Harley Davidson sweetened the deal by including all remaining interest, holdings and patents of the former Buell Motorcycle Company which cost Harley Davidson more than $100 million to shutter last April in its attempt to "Refocus on its core Brand and bring new blood into their market" " ......." | ||
| Court |
It wasn't JUST hookers ...... There was also "fine wine" and a ride on a private jet. The idiots have been fired. The mindset lives on. I love talking to my friends at HD, the company is in total turmoil with no one doing a thing except covering their ass by day and trying to convince their families they are not loosing their jobs by night. Wandell did the folks of Buell a huge favor by tossing them from the Titanic, with life vests, about 100 meters before impact with the idiot-berg. (Message edited by court on August 07, 2010) | ||
| Buellerandy |
Seriously? Is that shit legit? | ||
| Danger_dave |
>> From KIWI RIDER<< Not worth a credit, thanks. It's actually from Autoblog and the Harley press release. I just translated it for the locals :-) | ||
| Pwnzor |
  | ||
| Eboos |
I love reading Court's posts. This is one of those few times where I would like to "fast forward" life a little bit just to see what the future brings. | ||
| Crush63 |
So Harley just gave MV Agusta back to Claudio Castiglioni at a loss of 100 million and in the process gave away Buell patents for free? What does this mean for Eric's ability to build 1125R based street bikes in the future? Does Claudio Castiglioni now have exclusive rights to Eric's designs? | ||
| No_rice |
and in the process gave away Buell patents for free? guess i didnt see that anywhere in the convo....????? | ||
| Panhead_dan |
If that is true, I hate harley more than ever. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
If that can be verified, I would appreciate it very much. | ||
| Hughlysses |
See Swampy's post above regarding giving the Buell patents to MV Agusta. [Edit- although I looked in all the related press releases and I don't see that spelled out in any of them. ???] Maybe at least MV Agusta will be willing to sell or license those patents to Erik, which HD apparently wouldn't do. (Message edited by hughlysses on August 07, 2010) | ||
| Jstfrfun |
What happened to the "too tightly integrated into H\D to sell Buell" answer they gave to Bombardier when they wanted to buy? Now they give it away for a symbolic Euro. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
"Maybe at least MV Agusta will be willing to sell or license those patents to Erik, which HD apparently wouldn't do." Or not. I think I'm gonna puke. (settle down Dan, settle down) trying not to wish a plague on the moco. I do hope that very soon, Mr. Buell releases a line of street bikes that DOES attract the younger market, wins many races, sets the riding world on fire and the moco gets the dying quivers. FUHD! | ||
| Paint_shaker |
h-d, the new definition for fail! | ||
| Panhead_dan |
I will be the first to admit that I don't understand much about big business but from a consumer standpoint it seems to me that the only thing they have not done to sink the ship would be to sell tassles for the handlebars of their products. | ||
| No_rice |
yep guess i missed that. parts of that are straight from hd-net, parts of it definatly are not.... MILWAUKEE (August 6, 2010) - Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) has concluded the sale of its subsidiary, MV Agusta, to Claudio Castiglioni and his wholly owned holding company, MV Agusta Motor Holding, S.r.l., effective today. Castiglioni is the former owner of the Italian motorcycle maker and has served as MV Agusta's chairman since 2008, when Harley-Davidson acquired the company. In October 2009, Harley-Davidson announced its intention to sell MV Agusta as part of a new corporate strategy to focus resources on the Harley-Davidson brand. Since then, Harley-Davidson has held discussions with various potential MV Agusta buyers. "MV Agusta is a proud brand and we wish Mr. Castiglioni and the company's employees well," said Harley-Davidson President and Chief Executive Officer Keith Wandell. "Our decision to divest MV Agusta reflects our strategy to focus our efforts and our investment on the Harley-Davidson brand, as we believe this provides an optimal path to long-term growth." Company Background Harley-Davidson, Inc. is the parent company for the group of companies doing business as Harley-Davidson Motor Company (HDMC), Harley-Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) and Buell Motorcycle Company (Buell). i find it hard to believe they did anything with buell, even for hd, but then again who knows.} | ||
| Davegess |
Wippy Wandell was not responsible for buying MV. One of the reasons the previous guy got canned was the board realizing what he had done. HD has now cheaply sold Claudio a fully functioning MC factory and line of bikes. You would think they would have learned their lesson the first time they did this back in 1978. They have now dropped 175 mil on buying MV and paying off their debt. I estimate they dropped 30 million bringing the new MVs to market. And they seem to have some unstated future liability to MV. They could have lost 20 million a year on Buell for 10 years and come out ahead. Dam shame they ever bought the joint in the first place; overblown executive egos, and a figurative blow job from one of the world's best wheeler dealers sucked HD into this in the first place. Wonder who Claudio will seduce next? He is dam good. | ||
| Steveford |
I take it that bit about MV getting the Buell patents isn't correct? |
