Husky was doing pretty well here because the bikes were a bit cheaper than KTM. In a place where a good salary is $1000/month, price is the main factor. Husky dealers are going to have a hard time selling bikes at these prices. Most of the questions on the local website were asking about plating the bikes. As of now, none can be plated. another blow for Husky.
The new Husky website has some glaring omissions… Absolutely no mention of the 2014 or 110th anniversary models. Yeah, they're the old stuff, but they were sold and are still being sold. Links to owner's manuals, parts catalogs, etc for anything. Seriously, KTM. Pull your head out of your nether regions.
As to point #2 Bmw removed all of that stuf real soon after they aquired Husqvarna what some six or seven years ago. It must be the thing to do upon aquiring new divisions.
I made a joke comment about a new Husky will have to be sold as the same price or higher than the current ktm bikes to stop bleed-over buyers from buying a new 'ktm' bike with Husqvarna decals on it for ~$1,000 less ... I remember SP or some other big wig saying this would not a problem but it should be interesting to see how the price numbers flow on the bikes' cost.
The picture seems to be clearing up a little. Husky will be the premium brand to KTM. Premium components on the same basic platform for a premium price. The 4-wheeled world has many examples of the model; Audi/VW, Lexus/Toyota. Buick/Chevy, Acura/Honda, etc., etc. but I can't think of another motorcycle manufacturer taking that road. There are groups like Piaggio with multiple brands but there isn't much platform sharing between Moto Guzzi, Aprilia, Gilera, Vespa, etc.. There have been partnerships where platforms or engines are used by two brands (Honda/Hero, KTM/Bajaj) but not under the same corporate umbrella. Maybe Buell/Harley came the closest but that wasn't managed very well and has gone poof. The question is whether there is sufficient value in the premium components and sufficient dealer network to drive enough sales to make the concept work for SP and Husky.
Were they? Or were they just a small brand due to limited resources? Sales went up in the BMW years due to increased advertising. BMW just bailed too soon… after only 5 years. If they'd held out another 5, things might have been very different. But there were vast changes happening internally at BMW. Husky was only a small part of that.
Sales didn't go up as a whole.... production actually went down, after BMW bought Husky. MV built 14,000 Huskys, the last year before the sale and BMW was down to about 10,000 at the end.
I paid $4999 w/no money down for my leftover 09 WR 250 which I think is a fantastic woods bike and can be titled for a plate here in NJ. WER fork revalve and a Rekluse and my friends say it is a cheater bike especially when I run a trials tire. Those days are long gone, should have bought two of them. Great bike. I'd by a new one but I bet they will be near double the price and I will not go any faster at 60 yrs. old.
Its all about marketing. if husky wins all the hard enduro races with graham jarvis. if husky beat taddy in the indoor enduro races in America. if they end up this year in the European motocross competition in the top 5 the bikes will sell like crazy next year. depending what KTM does some of the buyers would jump from KTM but a fair bit would also jump from the Japanese brands the line up is a competition orientated one so the only sensible thing to do let it sell a lot is showing that it can win by winning Robert-Jan
I think Husky is going to have a tough time breaking into the MX market here unless they throw a lot of money at contingency, and get great magazine reviews.
They're KTMs and the mags all want to have sex with KTM. So yeah, good reviews will come easy. And when compared to the Italian Huskys, the KTM ones will be heavenly and the Italian ones were horrid (never mind that World Enduro Championship and the many podiums).
Not a problem for the new owners who have won about about every dirt bike / MX race on the planet currently, with no end in sight to the dominance. The new Huskies are already getting world class riders on the bikes in the worlds biggest races... -- Breaks down to a money game and with all the ktm / bajaj money bags, $ is flowing AOK for these guys ... -- Bleed over from the true orange crowd seems like the biggest issue SP is gonna have to deal with. I'm with you and it won't fly with me ... But, not sure who is buying the >100K number of orange bikes last yr, but some one is paying the > $9K for the bikes ..
We already saw the premium model with KTM / Husaberg fail, so maybe the name and more marketing will work.
SP stated once that Bergs just did not have the name recognition needed for sales on a world market scale. Husqvarna has Bergs beat here in the name-brand area. From what I read, last yrs dirt bikes sales were down with bmw ... The new streeter models kept the total sales numbers up ... I'm still thinking the back-lash from bmw ownership drove many away from the bikes during their ownership.
