The real reason Harley ditched Buell

[X1rider]

From Dealer News web site:

ATK signs $100 million deal to bring 33,000 bikes to U.S. market over four years
Publish date: May 28, 2010
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ATK has signed a multi-year, $100 million dollar contract with S&T Motors of Korea, manufacturer of Hyosung-branded bikes, to bring more than 33,000 motorcycles to the American marketplace over the next four years.

The companies are looking to build the ATK dealer network, especially targeting established Harley-Davidson dealers to take on the dirtsports line.

“Our strategy is for ATK to be the second American brand in select Harley-Davidson dealerships,” says ATK president Frank White. “The prime focus of our initiative is to be a feeder brand to the V-Twin dealers — similar to what Scion has been to Toyota."

That may be a tough sell with Harley, which has traditionally preferred dedicated dealerships and has not endorsed White’s plan.

“Nevertheless, our new products fit the current Harley-Davidson dealer need and move to offer both the dealer, and more importantly, the retail customer, a complete staircase of V-twin based products, which only acts to complement the current Harley-Davidson product lineup.”

White thinks ATK bikes will pull the coveted younger demographic into dealerships.

"The approach is simple; get new and younger riders to go into the Harley-Davidson dealerships," he says. "We want to capture those customers who are initially looking for a smaller displacement motorcycle, at an affordable price, and then over time these new riders will develop the aspiration for a traditional Harley-Davidson."

Under the deal, S&T has agreed to produce enough parts to manufacture 33,000 motorcycles, ranging in displacement from 250cc to 680cc. The motorcycles will be sold and marketed under the ATK brand name in the US market for the 2011 to 2014 model years.

Starting in 2012 motorcycles will be assembled near ATK headquarters in Centerville, Utah, where the company expects to employ 65 more people.

S&T Motors is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Korea and manufactures Hyosung-branded motorcycles ranging from 250cc to 700cc.

ATK claims it’s the second-oldest continuously running US motorcycle manufacturer and the only US based off-road motorcycle manufacturer.

[Wanderer]

My crystal ball shows this will end the same way Buell did.  A few bikes stuffed in a dark corner and generally shunned by salespeople and customers alike.

[desert_rider]

Jesus, dealers couldn't/wouldn't sell Buell's that were made by the MoCo in the United States.  They're going to endorse a Korean bike???

[Frankienuckles]

 

[chornbe]

Old news. You people really need to listen to The Pace.  

Anyway, it's the non-exclusive dealer network doing this, not momma-Harley from what I'd previously read.

[Skee]

Doesn't seem to fit HD's traditional marketing plan.
Not exactly analogous to the Scion offshoot from Toyota.
Not a bold new initiative.
No niche.

Only advantage I can see is a larger spread on the markup.  
That may generate more revenue but it won't sell bikes to the loyalists.

Does not make sense to me.  

But then, I wouldn't buy one anyway.  Last time I walked into a HD dealership, the girl at the counter told me I was too tall (& too good looking, well actually, what she said was closer to clean-cut) to ride a Harley.  No lie.

[Kootenanny]

Old news. You people really need to listen to The Pace.  

Anyway, it's the non-exclusive dealer network doing this, not momma-Harley from what I'd previously read.

Exactly.  Old news.  Where did I read about this previously?

Anyway, it's got nothing to do with the MoCo, or with Buell.  It is just a few...uh...dealers looking to pad out their inventory with something cheap they can sell to the kids who come in to drool all over the Harleys, but will never be able to afford one.

[R.Markus]

Starting in 2012 motorcycles will be assembled near ATK headquarters in Centerville, Utah, where the company expects to employ 65 more people.

So, this would make a total of 66 employees.  

[UHOH]

I'd say the corporate memory probably will remember the decades - old lessons when HD tried
it with Italian manufactured HD's.  

[maddjack]

From Dealer News web site:

ATK signs $100 million deal to bring 33,000 bikes to U.S. market over four years
Publish date: May 28, 2010
Email|Print|
Share

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ATK has signed a multi-year, $100 million dollar contract with S&T Motors of Korea, manufacturer of Hyosung-branded bikes, to bring more than 33,000 motorcycles to the American marketplace over the next four years.

The companies are looking to build the ATK dealer network, especially targeting established Harley-Davidson dealers to take on the dirtsports line.

“Our strategy is for ATK to be the second American brand in select Harley-Davidson dealerships,” says ATK president Frank White. “The prime focus of our initiative is to be a feeder brand to the V-Twin dealers — similar to what Scion has been to Toyota."

That may be a tough sell with Harley, which has traditionally preferred dedicated dealerships and has not endorsed White’s plan.

“Nevertheless, our new products fit the current Harley-Davidson dealer need and move to offer both the dealer, and more importantly, the retail customer, a complete staircase of V-twin based products, which only acts to complement the current Harley-Davidson product lineup.”

White thinks ATK bikes will pull the coveted younger demographic into dealerships.

"The approach is simple; get new and younger riders to go into the Harley-Davidson dealerships," he says. "We want to capture those customers who are initially looking for a smaller displacement motorcycle, at an affordable price, and then over time these new riders will develop the aspiration for a traditional Harley-Davidson."

Under the deal, S&T has agreed to produce enough parts to manufacture 33,000 motorcycles, ranging in displacement from 250cc to 680cc. The motorcycles will be sold and marketed under the ATK brand name in the US market for the 2011 to 2014 model years.

Starting in 2012 motorcycles will be assembled near ATK headquarters in Centerville, Utah, where the company expects to employ 65 more people.

S&T Motors is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Korea and manufactures Hyosung-branded motorcycles ranging from 250cc to 700cc.

ATK claims it’s the second-oldest continuously running US motorcycle manufacturer and the only US based off-road motorcycle manufacturer.

As other have said old news and , its a fellow who owns a group of HD dealerships that started this , not the Motor company itself, place blame or whatever it is , where it is due.

[chornbe]

If only there was a way to understand the words that these reporters write.  

[shah269]

Look I get the pussy thing....trust me now that I'm single I so get the HD pussy thing.
Just shy of walking a wallaby named Matilda the only 100% sure fire way to get good quantity of ass is to own a HD.
But that kind of is understandable since most woman really do have crap taste. Be it in how they want their steak cooked well done.....just chew on my shoes will you....to their taste in music.....really you are going to ask the DJ to play Biance put a ring on it....?

But what I don't get is how the company can really stay in business without developing ANY THING NEW!
It seems all they do is dig around their parts bin, slap some chrome together regardless of function or reason ask some cute long legged flat bellied perky boobied girl if it looks nice....to which she giggles and her panties explode off and she rides the lead designer a guy named Scab like a mechanical bull.....and they sell it so 50yo engineer named Chet who never had a girl under a size 18 for $18k.

I've taken economics and I understand things such as brand recognition all all this fun jazz about how we want a given item. But are we really this stupid?

[ride200mi]

From Dealer News web site:

ATK signs $100 million deal to bring 33,000 bikes to U.S. market over four years
Publish date: May 28, 2010
Email|Print|
Share

    * Del.icio.us
    * Digg
    * Reddit
    * Facebook

|Save|License

ATK has signed a multi-year, $100 million dollar contract with S&T Motors of Korea, manufacturer of Hyosung-branded bikes, to bring more than 33,000 motorcycles to the American marketplace over the next four years.

The companies are looking to build the ATK dealer network, especially targeting established Harley-Davidson dealers to take on the dirtsports line.

“Our strategy is for ATK to be the second American brand in select Harley-Davidson dealerships,” says ATK president Frank White. “The prime focus of our initiative is to be a feeder brand to the V-Twin dealers — similar to what Scion has been to Toyota."

That may be a tough sell with Harley, which has traditionally preferred dedicated dealerships and has not endorsed White’s plan.

“Nevertheless, our new products fit the current Harley-Davidson dealer need and move to offer both the dealer, and more importantly, the retail customer, a complete staircase of V-twin based products, which only acts to complement the current Harley-Davidson product lineup.”

White thinks ATK bikes will pull the coveted younger demographic into dealerships.

"The approach is simple; get new and younger riders to go into the Harley-Davidson dealerships," he says. "We want to capture those customers who are initially looking for a smaller displacement motorcycle, at an affordable price, and then over time these new riders will develop the aspiration for a traditional Harley-Davidson."

Under the deal, S&T has agreed to produce enough parts to manufacture 33,000 motorcycles, ranging in displacement from 250cc to 680cc. The motorcycles will be sold and marketed under the ATK brand name in the US market for the 2011 to 2014 model years.

Starting in 2012 motorcycles will be assembled near ATK headquarters in Centerville, Utah, where the company expects to employ 65 more people.

S&T Motors is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Korea and manufactures Hyosung-branded motorcycles ranging from 250cc to 700cc.

ATK claims it’s the second-oldest continuously running US motorcycle manufacturer and the only US based off-road motorcycle manufacturer.

I'm thinking this is the real reason for the calling.....

[steve.m]

Look I get the pussy thing....trust me now that I'm single I so get the HD pussy thing.
Just shy of walking a wallaby named Matilda the only 100% sure fire way to get good quantity of ass is to own a HD.
But that kind of is understandable since most woman really do have crap taste. Be it in how they want their steak cooked well done.....just chew on my shoes will you....to their taste in music.....really you are going to ask the DJ to play Biance put a ring on it....?

But what I don't get is how the company can really stay in business without developing ANY THING NEW!
It seems all they do is dig around their parts bin, slap some chrome together regardless of function or reason ask some cute long legged flat bellied perky boobied girl if it looks nice....to which she giggles and her panties explode off and she rides the lead designer a guy named Scab like a mechanical bull.....and they sell it so 50yo engineer named Chet who never had a girl under a size 18 for $18k.

I've taken economics and I understand things such as brand recognition all all this fun jazz about how we want a given item. But are we really this stupid?

you forgot about her tight butt  

but more seriously, i never got the harley thing and swore i'd never own one.  then i had a cbr1000 which was the worst motorcycle i've ever owned for street riding (brutal track weapon out of the box though, and sounded sweeeet   ).  when that got stolen, i started thumbing around and talked to a bud with a sportster.  he went on and on about it.  i bought one, i loved it until i realized it was worthless for me as a distance cruiser (i'm 6'3") but the sucker did turn heads as i've said many times before.  so i shopped for a new bike, and got the ulysses XT.  BEST BIKE I'VE EVER RIDDEN!!!  perfect power where i want it, perfect ergos for me, perfect for 2-up and distances.  just an all out perfect bike for someone who is looking for a good street machine.  

HD shut down buell (i think) because it didn't fit their business model, not because the bikes weren't selling or weren't quality machines.  when i bought my XL the dealer said "you don't usually see engineers buying sporties, they tend to go for buells".  as an engineer i eventually fell into the stereotype because the bikes are so beautifully sorted.  however, engineers aren't the average buyer and HD's plan to market buells to the youth market failed miserably.  probably because kids interested in HD could afford a sportster before they could afford a buell and get the "real thing"

and with those comments, i've opened a stinky ol' can of worms  

[falconati]

Look I get the pussy thing....trust me now that I'm single I so get the HD pussy thing.
Just shy of walking a wallaby named Matilda the only 100% sure fire way to get good quantity of ass is to own a HD.
But that kind of is understandable since most woman really do have crap taste. Be it in how they want their steak cooked well done.....just chew on my shoes will you....to their taste in music.....really you are going to ask the DJ to play Biance put a ring on it....?

But what I don't get is how the company can really stay in business without developing ANY THING NEW!
It seems all they do is dig around their parts bin, slap some chrome together regardless of function or reason ask some cute long legged flat bellied perky boobied girl if it looks nice....to which she giggles and her panties explode off and she rides the lead designer a guy named Scab like a mechanical bull.....and they sell it so 50yo engineer named Chet who never had a girl under a size 18 for $18k.

I've taken economics and I understand things such as brand recognition all all this fun jazz about how we want a given item. But are we really this stupid?

This is one of the most ridiculous posts on this forum - and that's saying a lot.

You are a sad, small, little man.

[chornbe]

But what I don't get is how the company can really stay in business without developing ANY THING NEW!

But that's where you're wrong...

Your GPz isn't exactly cutting edge tech, yet it's a well respected, highly sought-after bike.

Point  being, when a majority of the people buying motorcycles buy Harleys above other brands, why WOULD or SHOULD they change? When their sales numbers fall off and their wallets thin and they realize their "core buyers" aren't getting the job done, THEN they'll move on to other products.

It's stupid for them to stray from what sells and it would be stupid for them not to adapt when their sales fall off.

Why is that so hard to understand?

And why do you care?  

[R.Markus]

But that's where you're wrong...

Your GPz isn't exactly cutting edge tech, yet it's a well respected, highly sought-after bike.

Point  being, when a majority of the people buying motorcycles buy Harleys above other brands, why WOULD or SHOULD they change? When their sales numbers fall off and their wallets thin and they realize their "core buyers" aren't getting the job done, THEN they'll move on to other products.

It's stupid for them to stray from what sells and it would be stupid for them not to adapt when their sales fall off.

Why is that so hard to understand?

And why do you care?  

You're defending Harley Davidson from shaw. Just thought you'd like to know.

[chornbe]

You're defending Harley Davidson from shaw. Just thought you'd like to know.

You're right.

I'm also trying to understand how he can be appear so fucking stupid and still support a heart beat.

[Playinthestreet]

You're right.

I'm also trying to understand how he can be appear so fucking stupid and still support a heart beat.

I'd hate to see an EKG printout on him...

[falconati]

hahahahaha.....god