Chinese-Made Harleys
by Steve
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Tracy posted a comment on an older article, where she talks about Harley parts being made overseas...One comment I will add here, is that for Harley lovers (Which I am one of them) to state put down a so-called metric bike and their argument is that you should own an American Bike, is rather contradictory, when most parts for HD are being outsourced and manuctured in Japan, Chile, Germany, China, Mexico and etcetera...while being shipped into the USA and assembled! Where as several of the Japanese made bikes are actually being manufactured and assembled both in the USA! So for HD owners to put down a so-called metric crusier and make the claim it's "just a rice grinder" and not a truly American made bike, is an oximoronic statement to say the least!
This particular subject has been hashed out so many times before on other websites.
I suppose this whole notion of Harley's being made of foreign parts is going to play out even more as the years go by. While Harley's are still very popular, I'm beginning to see signs that interest is waning. Motorcycles are actually going to be more popular, but these $20,000 dollar Harleys just ain't going to keep selling. The folks in Milwaukee are going to have to come with up a cheaper hog, to keep the ship afloat.
While Harley was recently in the news as having earned profits in the first quarter of 2006, things are not all that rosy at HD. The company stated that it won't be selling its 2007 models until the third quarter, instead of the second quarter as it has before. Analysts see this as a sign that there is trouble ahead. I think it's because there is still a glut of 2006 models to be sold. Heck, I just bought a 2005 rental bike out of a dealer's showroom. Proof there is still a lot of inventory left to be sold.
And now, Harley has its first dealership in China. If Harley Davidson motorcycles are ever going to be made in China, the first logical step is to show the Chinese what a Harley Davidson motorcyle looks, sounds, and feels like. After all, no hog-riding American wants to ride a Harley that sounds like a Chinese noodle-banger. Well, now the Chinese know what a Harley is all about.
I suspect Harley will eventually open a factory in China, but only to build motorcycles for Chinese consumers. It'll probably be a lot longer before we'll see any Chinese-built Harleys sold in the USA. But it's going to go that way. At one time Wal-Mart prided itself on selling only American-made products, look where that took them! It's going to happen to Harley too.
Labels: Harley Davidson Parts, Made in China
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More Motorcycles Are Being Built in China
by Steve
Monday, December 27, 2004
An article published today on China Daily reports that Honda and Yamaha plans to build more motorcyles in China. Honda announced that both motorcycle production in China and sales in China are expected to increase by 33% this year.
Honda also said its motorcycle exports from China will reach 220,000 units this year, an increase of 29 per cent from 2003.
Honda currently runs three motorcycle joint ventures in China with Hainan Sundiro Motorcycle Co Ltd, Guangzhou Automobile Group, Jialing Industries Co Ltd. It could very well be right now that the shiny new Rune you've been looking at was not even built by Honda, but by one of those three Chinese motorcycle builders.
Yamaha has goals to produce 1 million motorcycles in China by 2005 and increase output to 4 million units by 2010 through collaborations with local partners. It looks like future Roadstars may soon become Chinese.
Overall, China built and exported about 3 million motorcycles during the first 11 months of this year, up more than 30 per cent from a year earlier.
Labels: China, Made in China, Manufacturing
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