"Rupess Talk, Harley Listens" or "Ganesha helped build my Hog!"

[jfurf]

 Point being young will get old and then look to HD, so they don't market to the young, they just wait for time to resupply their customer base.

And this in a nutshell is why Harley is so lame. They're basically the Buick of motorcycles.  

[chornbe]

I've put more miles on Harleys than anything else and I know that world pretty well. .While I'll grant that "some" people wouldn't care if a Harley (any model) was built oversees and imported here, I can guarantee that the hard core Harley riders which are Harley Davidsons main repeat customers simply would not buy one period. They would keep what they had which being an American made HD would appreciate in value or buy used. Accessories and trinkets are one thing and trust me they bitch about them being imported, whole motorcycles are a whole different story. The bikes Harley manufactures overseas will be for the overseas market only unless they entire managment team at HD suddenly went brain dead.

Eggzackery!  

[Rogue]

And this in a nutshell is why Harley is so lame. They're basically the Buick of motorcycles.  

Buick made more sales in China than anywhere else.  It's a money-maker for GM right now.    Also, Buick cars and SUV's have been winning awards since the break up of GM.  It seems Buick came out the winner while all the other brands flounder.  

So not like H-D at all.

[chornbe]

Well... kind of. Harley wouldn't be going in to those other markets if they weren't wanted. First it was export to India, now it's assembly/manufacturing.

And the magazines, for the most part, pick Harleys above other makers' bikes. Across the board, they're probably 70% the winner in the various comparos.

They're doing ok.

And Buick is making some damn fine cars.  

[Rogue]

They're doing ok.

And Buick is making some damn fine cars.  

Yes that is all true.

The one big difference is that Buick's vehicles are almost all new design with a very fresh execution.  Many articles describe today's Buick's as not your grandfather's Buick rings very true.  They are very different and appeal much more to Lexus/BMW buyers.  They now have turbo-intercooled inline fours with 6-speed manual/automatics.  They also have DOHC V6's with direct injection.  They also tune their cars at the Nurghburgring Racetrack in Germany, as all of GM's high performance cars.  Buick's new direction is luxury and performance and tests do show this.  Sales in the US is improving but Sales in China topped the charts.

H-D do have good products.  I'll give them that.  But they are all based on improved versions of old designs.  The XR1200 still clings to the old version and looks it.  Only the V-Rod was forward looking except they turned it into the Nightster now.  To me, H-D seems paralized by its own history.  Kind of like Jaguar was not long ago.  So that part is not like today's Buick.

[chornbe]

To me, H-D seems paralized by its own history dumbass Harley Guy ^(r)(c)(tm) core buyer who can't let HD move forward.

FTFY

I have it on good authority that some of the stuff in the super secret skunkwerx labs at HD would make a lot of otherwise non-interested riders go "hmmmm..... that's cool."

[antvq]

Yeah, but County drives a Buick!       It's the Rebel of the car world.  

[Rogue]

County drives our grandfather's Buick.  

[chornbe]

County drives our grandfather's Buick.  

Grandpa always did like him best. That's why he got the car.  

[JonS]

FTFY

I have it on good authority that some of the stuff in the super secret skunkwerx labs at HD would make a lot of otherwise non-interested riders go "hmmmm..... that's cool."

It was quite a while since I lived in Milwaukee, but  even then, HD bought models of other brands to use in the engineering dept. Then nothing happened. Harley just kept making the same machines. I rode in the dirt with a couple of HD engineers. They liked having these other cool bikes to ride.

[Kat-Rider]

You'd be surprised how much India's middle class has grown in the last 20 years  

Yep.  Them and China are 2 huge new markets.  Remember all those tech jobs that left the US?  They had to go somewhere.  
If HD does move production to India I do not think it will make that big a deal.  As long as they ease into it most people might not notice.  People still think of Nissan/Honda/Toyota as Japanese made cars and GM as an American made car.  

[atadaskew]

Harley has been assembling bikes in Brazil for years now.

And we haven't seen any Brazillian Harleys here...

Methinks this is just another case of people wishing that Harley would go belly up, just because they shut down Buell even though they'd never actually buy a Buell..

Which leads the mind to ponder... if you wax a Brazillian Harley....

[scottzilla]

Chris, never say never.

GM now sources many of their entry level engines from China and stuffs them in US-made cars.  H-D has Chinese made parts too.

Back in the 1980's and before, this would have been treated as a heretic act and the brand banished by the faithful.  That kind of thinking is no longer the case.  Look at what happened with WalMart!  They used to tout Made In The USA and supported US companies that sourced their labor domestically back in the 1990's.  

How things change.

Just curious, which GM model sold in the US has a Chinese made engine?

[JonS]

Just curious, which GM model sold in the US has a Chinese made engine?

I googled your question and found this, from Wikipedia.

Since 1999, a Chinese version of the Buick Century/Regal has been produced and sold in China by Shanghai GM and has proven to be popular among upscale, professional families, establishing Buick as one of the most popular vehicle brands in China. In addition, Buick of China also sells the compact Excelle (based on the Daewoo Lacetti/Nubira), a five-door hatchback version called the HRV, and a modified version of the first generation Pontiac Montana minivan named the GL8. Many Buicks for the local market are equipped with smaller more fuel efficient engines with double overhead camshafts, than those with overhead valves in the same nameplate for the American market. The engines of 2005-09 Chevrolet Equinox and Pontiac Torrent, originally intended for Buick in China, were made in China and imported by General Motors.

[Biking Sailor]

15+ years ago I toured a GM plant in OKC and was amazed at how many subassemblies were from other countries.  Seems every component being attached had a made somewhere else label.  I didn't think I was naive about the amount of overseas parts used, but was surprised by what I saw.

Can only assume it's only gotten more so over the years.  

[HipGnosis]

 People still think of Nissan/Honda/Toyota as Japanese made cars and GM as an American made car.  

Those mfg's want people to think that.

[chornbe]

15+ years ago I toured a GM plant in OKC and was amazed at how many subassemblies were from other countries.  Seems every component being attached had a made somewhere else label.  I didn't think I was naive about the amount of overseas parts used, but was surprised by what I saw.

Can only assume it's only gotten more so over the years.  

We are living in a global economy. Companies (and people!) deny that at great peril and risk.

[cdcro]

 Those mfg's want people to think that.

+1 My father in law is always complaining about our Japanese cars, a 2000 and a 2008 Honda SUV, one built in Indiana and one built in Ohio.

[Kat-Rider]

 Those mfg's want people to think that.

Exactly my point.  HD will be the same way.  As long as they don't stick a 'Made in    'sticker on it most people will not think about it.

[falconati]

Indian replicas