<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mylexicon @ Oct 16 2009, 07:45 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Harley will end up regretting this decision.
Harley aren't shortsighted though, their sales have been booming since the early 90s. Harley are allegedly trying to build a new factory, but with the depth of the recession, I'm sure their happy to can the Buell project and use those facilities to produce more bikes rather than building an entirely new facility.
At least Ray Blank will get a decent nights sleep.
thier sales have gone down the ...........from their press release:
Harley's sales are down quite a bit this year - 21% lower in the third quarter this year than last and an 84% decline in income from a year ago.
"Worldwide retail sales of new Harley-Davidson® motorcycles declined 21.3 percent in the third quarter compared to last year’s third quarter, an improvement from the 30.1 percent decline in this year’s second quarter. An 84.1 percent decline in net income and an 84.5 percent decline in diluted earnings per share from the year-ago quarter reflected lower motorcycle shipments and the effects of the economy on retail and wholesale loan performance at Harley-Davidson Financial Services."
Due to this, they are discontinuing Buell and selling MV Agusta:
"Harley-Davidson also unveiled major elements of its go-forward business strategy to drive growth through a single-minded focus of efforts and resources on the unique strengths of the Harley-Davidson brand, and to enhance productivity and profitability through continuous improvement. As approved yesterday by Harley-Davidson’s Board of Directors, the Company will discontinue its Buell product line and divest its MV Agusta unit as part of this strategy."
