Upon announcing the company’s third quarter financial results, HD took the decision to discontinue the Buell motorcycle brand and sell in the near future the Italian bike manufacturer MV Agusta.
With third quarter sales dropping 21.3 percent year-on-year and net income down 84.1 percent, Harley Davidson believed its best bet on saving the company would be to switch focus to their own brand.
"As our announcement regarding Buell and MV Agusta indicates, we are moving with the speed and decisiveness required to bring our business strategy to life," said Keith Wandell, the company's new CEO. "The fact is we must focus both our effort and our investment on the Harley-Davidson brand, as we believe this provides an optimal path to sustained, meaningful, long-term growth."
This dire news was announced by Erik Buell in a truly touching video statement, which you can watch below. The Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of the Buell Motorcycle Company spoke with grief about his buried dreams and honorably thanked all those who helped along the way, praising a spirit beyond the reach of financial wealth.
This could prove a very uninspired move from Harley Davidson, as both Buell and MV Agusta were soulful motorcycle companies with die hard fans, that drew customers because of their passion for motorcycles.
HD seems to be in a quite delicate situation now, as their imprudent business decisions distanced themselves from their clients, who, in time, grew unsatisfied with just a “back to the roots, free-spirit” idea, that slowly switched from the passion for riding to the corporate interest.
Google News