Comments on: Harley-Davidson Guarantees Trade-In Value For Sportsters

By: Michael Roberts

Michael Roberts — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:45:30 +0000

All great ideas, all great input. But as we’ve seen, the writting’s on the wall. Great prices or trade-in guarantees won’t mean better sales unless available credit is there as well. Typical trends are following a direction in “Wait and see” . With this, job losses, more lost homes, unpaid debt, stiffer requirements for credit, business closings, just to name a few. Personally, I think every individual and business will feel the severity of our financial crisis, this includes Harley regardless of what they do. I once heard insanity defined as “Doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results to happen each time”.

By: dragon

dragon — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:23:57 +0000

wonder what a used sporty will sell for then same as it was new more than likely

By: raycwheeler

raycwheeler — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 22:16:27 +0000

12 Great ideas .

Here’s another thought .

Mark all models down and continuing selling service , t-shirts & bolt-on-bullshit ( that may or may not fit ) –don’t forget the extra warranty program ( the slightest modification and the warranty might be null & void ) .

Happy Holidays ,

Ray

By: Jack

Jack — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:02:48 +0000

I have a feeling that the sportster is a low margin bike for Harley and they really make the money as you step up in models. Therefore trying to entice a sportster customer to step to a bigger model means more margin.

I don’t know what to estimate as profit for each bike but in most industries the low end is the least.

Now if they would start selling products made in the USA that would be a boost for Americans. Try to find made in the USA on the clothing or chrome and accesories. Makes me wonder how much foreign content is in my Fatboy Vs domestic content.

By: rodent

rodent — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:58:25 +0000

So, wassa matter with a Sporty? I’m on my 3rd and if they lowered the seat hight of the European only(untill they needed the bread) Sporty I’d be riding that… Unless they take the V-rod powertrain and put it in a real motorcycle, then I might want one of those

By: Mike Kiwi Tomas, Kiwi Indian MotorCycles

Mike Kiwi Tomas, Kiwi Indian MotorCycles — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:40:59 +0000

It is nice to see Harley trying rather than just sitting on the sidelines. Motorcycle mfrs in the US market don’t seem to ever capitalize on marketing bikes and their fuel economy advantage especially in high gas price times. Is there also a possible green side by being eco friendly by riding a m/c? I never owned a car until I was 28 and my classic Indians are still my primary source of transportation at 40 mpg. I would venture to say a bike is more friendlier on the environment than a car not only in the cost of mfg but also in travel. I ride my old Indians and like Jay Leno states, “I like to think I’m recycling and being green on the environment”.
How low can Harley really go on pricing and still make money? Keep in mind their motorcycles are made with union labor which is a real cost. Also with most of the western worlds publicly traded companies they seem fixated on company quarterly profits, shareholders too. It seems many of the foreign companies look long term rather than short term and are not fixated on quarterly results as they’re looking 5, 10, 25 years down the road. Indian is offering $31,000.00-$36,000.00 bikes with a different business model. We are in some interesting times that’s for certain and time will tell.

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 14:40:42 +0000

J are you nuts? Everything you said goes against the grain of American capitolism. How can you expect HD to make such a bold move when our very own government is trying to prop up a still over inflated houseing and stock market. It seems that no one is willing to admit defeat on economic grounds until they carry the cold dead carcasses out.
BTW I agree 100% with you.

By: Doc Robinson

Doc Robinson — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 12:12:38 +0000

It worked before. It will work again. Smart marketing. Onya H-D!

By: J

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 04:41:01 +0000

My price targets may be unrealistic, but then again, how much marginal R&D is really amortized into each Sportster every year?

When Detroit changes a front end on a Taurus, the expenses for tooling and crash testing such can be 10-figures astronomical; What new expenses does Harley really incur by adding rubber fork gaiters?

Look at the pricing on the Model T- as Ford streamed its production process, the cost savings- instead of going into the pockets of Ford executives- were passed onto the consumer, dropping the price of the T from $825 in 1914 to $260 in 1924- same vehicle, just reduced production costs.

Harley management missed a golden opportunity this past year. When gas prices hovered near $4/ga, Harley could have built the “any color you want so long as its black” Sportster, charged $3999 for it (sorry, but I have to believe that isn’t much more than $4K of raw materials and labor tied up in a Sportster), marketed it as the anti-hybrid, and people would have lined up in dealerships, like they were in the metric dealers-

Instead, Harley chose to try to paper-trade their way out of the hole via collateralized debt, and spent FAR more per bike going this route than dropping a $3999 Sportster bomb onto the market.

The one GLARING fault of this strategy? CDO paper doesn’t upgrade to a Big Twin, It doesn’t buy accessories, and it doesn’t generate any service bay revenue; Paper is not LOYAL- it’s just a quick-buck technique used by short-sighted management in order to artificially inflate shareholder equity.

Take a lesson from Ford, HD- that’s HENRY Ford- put customers interest ahead of shareholder and management interest, and ultimately ALL will benefit.

By: James (Kiwi)

James (Kiwi) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 00:09:47 +0000

I look at some of the metric cruisers and they are often not as well finished as an HD, and have lots of plastic parts.There is reason for price difference though HD like many European car brands do push it too the max by using the name as an excuse for a higher margine.
In 08 they dropped prices here by up to 4 grand.So I swooped!!
I bought an 08 Fat Bob this year and I’m loving it !! It suits the twisty mountain passes in the SouthIsland and goes (with minor mod’s) as fast as I want or need.

As for being creative I bought a new XLX in 83 which was selling for $3995.00 and there was a deal in the US that if you traded it back in the next 12 months you got your money back on your original purchase.
So it is just a reintroduction of a past idea.Guess they thought people that have been around a while would have no memory left.Or maybe they lost theirs??????!!!!

Out for a ride,
James

By: just my opinion

just my opinion — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:48:47 +0000

This is a game car dealers have been playing for years. “We will give you every dime towards a new bike but what we don’t say is the new bike will have an inflated price to cover the used bike”
They need to drop the price on all models and the bikes will sell themselves.

By: harry

harry — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:44:21 +0000

J, I’d love to see Harley’s that cheap but it just doesn’t seem terribly realistic. Doesn’t hurt to wish though, cause if they dropped the prices like you suggested, I’d be in line w/ you to get another H-D as well, I figure I could sell bodily fluids and any internal organs I have two of so i could get the $$$ to buy it/lol.

By: fuji

fuji — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:36:29 +0000

Possibly they could fall back on the ITC to put tarriffs on heavy weigtht imports like they did back in the early eightys.

Reducing prices on a premium motorcycle ! That would bring a lot of people to Milwaulkee most of them with clubs in hand with refund on there mind. We paid to much to begin with.

By: J

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:58:21 +0000

Oh, and while we’re at it- how bout a $8999 Super Glide and a $9999 Road King? Embrace deflation, HD- before it embraces you……

By: J

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:51:43 +0000

Hmm… Creative thinking, true, tho will be interesting where HD will hide this one on their balance sheet…. I’ve been a consistant critic of HD management the past few years, but I must say that it’s nice to see an effort that at least appears to give back to the consumer first;

That said, artificial pricing never seems to work out as well as free-market pricing… How bout producing FEWER Sportsters or DROP the initial price until demand equals supply?

Hasn’t the tooling on these things been paid yet, Harley? Here’s an idea- a stripper $3999 Sportster- HD will sell them all day long, and unlike the Buell one-lung, that target won’t crush secondary market pricing;

Make mine rubber-mounted, and I’ll be the first one to sign the papers.