MCN is reporting that the long-rumored MV Agusta three-cylinder, dubbed the MV Agusta F3 by the media (but not likely to be called this by MV), has been put on hold while MV Agusta looks for a new home outside of Harley-Davidson family. MCN goes on to report that the F3’s rumored displacement has been bumped up from 675cc to nearly 800cc.
For the Buell and MV loyal, Harley-Davidson’s latest earnings report should provide all the information as to why the Milwaukee manufacturer had to close and sell those brands respectively. Reporting a nearly 90% loss in annual income, Harley-Davidson earned only $70.6 million in 2009, compared to the $684.2 million Harley earned in 2008, which results in a staggering loss of income for the iconic motorcycle company.
For Q4 of 2009, Harley-Davidson actually operated in the red, and lost $218.7 million in net income by staying in business (Asphalt & Rubber actually made more money during the same time period than Harley-Davidson did, if that puts things into perspective). Additionally, Harley-Davidson is reporting a $147.2 million loss in revenue during its fourth quarter operations. The loss is associated with the reduction in production, and the $167.1 million in restructuring costs incurred because of the closure of the Buell Motorcycle brand.
The Harley-Davidson Sportster Forty-Eight (or is it 48?), has made its way out of Milwaukee in time for the 2010 model year. Based on the Sportster 1200 platform, the Forty-Eight is the latest addition to Harley’s “custom” offering. It differs from its Nightser et al counterparts with a bobber meets cafe racer appeal, but keeps the ubiquitous orange and black color schemes.
Harley-Davidson is probably the last company we’d expect to start showing concept motorcycles, but that didn’t stop designer Miguel Cotto from imagining what the Milwaukee brand would look like in 10 years. We don’t know what the next decade will have in store for the American brand, but we’re willing to bet this isn’t it.
It’s been a rough outing in the stock market for Harley-Davidson recently as in the past 10 days the company has seen to substantial hits to its stock price. First the company was hit by the news that it would be recalling over 110,000 motorcycles for faulty fuel tank mounts. And now, the latest bad news comes in the form of a downgrade by financial powerhouse Goldman Sachs, which has downgraded their opinion of Harley-Davidson from “neutral” to “sell”. More after the jump.
Harley-Davidson is issuing a recall on its 2009 & 2010 touring line made between June 6, 2008, and Nov. 19, 2009, which consists of 111,569 motorcycles in total. The recall is due to concerns over the fuel tank mounts on these motorcycles, which might distort in a collision, possibly leaking fuel, and thus causing a fire.
Harley-Davidson announced this week that it was able to come to an agreement with its York, Pennsylvania plant employees and union members, thus allowing the plant to remain open and producing motorcycles. The move wasn’t easy though as half of the plant’s employees will lose their jobs in order to keep the Shield & Bar in the Springettsbury Township area.
Harley-Davidson, Inc. has just announced that Erik Buell, Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of the soon to be closed Buell Motorcycle Company, will leave the company to establish Erik Buell Racing, an independent motorcycle race shop that will specialize in making 1125R-based racing motorcycles and parts.
UPDATE: Erik has made a video that explains his move to Erik Buell Racing further, and rehashes the information already available in Harley-Davidson’s press release.
Harley-Davidson, Inc. has retained the services of French investment banking group BNP Paribas to help sell the sportbike manufacturer MV Agusta, thus taking the next step in divesting the Italian brand from the Milwaukee company. Helping fuel speculation, BNP Paribas, with its team based out of Milan, Italy, is another sign that MV could end up in Italian hands after its sale concludes.
The last Buell rolled off the East Troy, Wisconsin assembly line this past November 12th, thus closing the final chapter for the American street bike company. After creating 136,923 motorcycles over the last 26 years, it is a Buell Lightning XB12Scg that will be the last motorcycle to bear Erik Buell’s name.
It’s been a few weeks since Harley-Davidson announced the immediate closure of its subsidiary Buell, where dealers began slashing prices both to liquidate stock and to cash-in on Harley’s $5,000 sale incentive. Basic economics dictates that any time a price is raised or lowered it has repercussions to the product’s resale value, and in the case of Buell’s sudden price drop and dumping of basically new bikes into the market, the consequences for current Buell owners seem dreary. Or are they?
In order to find an answer to that question, we asked Joshua Minix, former government think-tank Economist, and current John M. Olin Fellow in Law and Economics at Harvard Law School, to wade through the implications of Buell’s closure, and how it affects the used Buell motorcycle market. Click past the jump for his analysis.