So, the facts as we know it are; 1.dealerships report getting stock is difficult to source 2. I notice more and more husky's on the trails than ever 3. Magazines give positive test comparison 4. Some models win bike of the year 5. The brand is more visible than ever, even 'mainstream' 6. Juha and Meo kick butt in Ewc 7. Husky high viz at 2 dakars 8. BMW motorrad posts biggest ever profits 2012 My god, where did it all go wrong?
From the 'other site' which I rarely visit it is reported that there are over 8000 of the new 650's somewhere - that BMW was building the heck out of them in their effort to make Husky a more 'street' brand. Taken with a grain of salt it could make some sense - that if there are a bunch of bikes in crates they might be the 650's - and that there is a fairly limited supply of the 'dirt' Huskies.
for a fact the only warehouse in the usa that stores husky bikes for distribution in the usa , and it is in PA , and in that warehouse there are only around 100 bikes left , as of last week.
Hard to believe with the brisk sales of TR models that they even had the capability to build 8000 more and store them in a warehouse.
Another blow to the Italian (non) economy. More layoffs. Less jobs. The beauty of the smaller Italian brands of anything is their pride. The outsourcing they do is to the guy down the road that makes screws, the guy who builds seats 2 towns away etc etc (as much as possible) that has everything to do with pride. Something that many 1 st world businesses have detroyed. For example- design engines somewhere else (Germany) then outsource motors to be built in Taiwan and have Italians build bikes with them-blasphemy and it goes against the deep psych imbedded in Italian creative mentality and pride "cazzo, motori Cinesi, sei pazzo?". look to TM and Beta, notice how long Beta used KTM engines before designing and builting their own (TM did that long ago). And yes they use sourced parts as well (kokusan ignitions for example) but the overall packages are in house designs, that are designed, built with pride in company house with local workers and products. The Japanese discovered this local pride concept as well, its worked "fairly" well them as well, but they are a different breed. re-viva Castiglioni-Giovanni-Varese!!! for motos CA GI VA (they still have very successful businesses in other industries)
Nobody is going to ship thousands of bikes half way across the world on the offchance of a sale - America will have gotten a quota shipment every once in a while and most surplus stock at any one time will be unsold previous years' models sat in boxes or on dealers' floors. As to the truth of of the "mysterious 11,000" - hmmmmmm, recently manufactured bikes will be in holding warehouses, possibly not far from the factory, maybe near a convenient distribution hub. Without having seen the plant first hand it's impossible to speculate what quantity of storage they have on site. Varese isn't a huge factory though, so it's also worth noting that they won't be building every road and dirt model concurrently on parallel production lines. It appears that they've been concentrating on the road bikes more recently, so it's understandable that dirt bikes are scarce. It's also not beyond the realms of possibility that BMW were stacking unsold roadbikes somewhere out of sight until they could conjour up a sale, rather than pull the plug on production, thus rendering the plant worthless and screwing up contracts with suppliers. It would be nice to have some factual first-hand knowledge from Varese though. It all just seems to be Chinese Whispers at the moment!
After reading this whole thread, all I know is my marriage to my TE610ie is still good, can't ever imagine divorcing her and replacing her with what? Still in love after all these long years.
It seems clear the BMW is saddled with a large number of surplus Chinese engines and that they used Husqvarna as a place to deposit them and then sold off the company together with the useless stock. CCM in the UK has now come out with a new bike for which they purchased some of these surplus Chinese engines on the cheap. Suppose we´re better off sticking to small companies that are dedicated to their product. KTM and BMW are definitely not (and never were) my `cup of tea´.
I sure hope you are right, in fact, I pray you are right. It would make things a lot easier. However, I do find it curious that there has been no denial or clarification on the surplus bike issue by now. The Germans can be fastidious accountants, but they are human and not immune to cooking the books in times of extreme stress.
http://www3.varesenews.it/english/husqvarna-is-a-case-of-industrial-looting-261380.html “There is a structural problem,” adds Flavio Cervellino, from Fim Cisl, “in the warehouses there are 12 thousands unsold motorbikes, and is clear the the problem is connected to the product, but the owners are not interested in investing in research and developing and so they don’t consider alternative solutions to the selling of the activity”.
I heard something kind of funny from a decent source. The rumor I heard and please I have no idea if this is true. Came from a reliable source. And I will be honest with you. I think it is funny and would probably do the same thing. I heard the Euro Union dumped a crap load of 449/511's at the bottom of a lake because the engine was made in Taiwan. BMW. You should have known, the Italians take great pride in doing there thing and no matter where the outsource it costs jobs!! Again who knows if this is true!!! Can I preorder a 2014 Cagiva yet?????????????
Pretty simple. BMW really didn't know what they were doing. At least with Husqvarna.And all of your eight is right on. I don't expect to see a cloned KTM/Husqvarna would be the stupidest thing I ever seen or was thought of. With sales up and SP being a business man only makes sense to me to keep it going and where it is at. If there are any bikes anywhere and KTM pulls any crap I sure would not want to be the poor KTM guy in Italy. They will burn that factory to the ground if this doesn't go right. And yes we will see something from them if it all backfires. Must be positive for the time being. To many rumors, who know what, want a be's and such to even know anything!!! Trying to figure out right now, how to buy a 2013 Husky along with the Gas Gas afford it and not get divorced
Ok I talked to lets call him Mr Husqvarna today who is the highest guy in the chain at this time I believe for now.I can release the info below to be what the general plan is for now. A USA dealer meeting in not to distant future will be held to explain the actual plan/direction when things get settled and figured out. Fact >yes labor dispute but factory still open and will be finishing 2013 production of certain models including 650s.Also some 2014 models most likely and when all that is done after parts for current and new bikes being made 2013 and some 2014 s.But not 12000! Fact>No 12000 bikes in wharehouses again maybe the world wide storehouse including dealer .distributors etc have thousands for sale but 12000 sitting around.NOT TRUE,nothings getting crushed that would be a dumb way to loose a whole lot of money. Fact> some more bikes will be coming to USA mostly Te models and Terras maybe numbers unknown but not thousands, limited numbers.Some bikes may not make for EPA agreements and things related to import etc. Fact>.We will have a 2014 model line introduced in or by November est 10-12 bike line up including some new stuff from Husqvarna/Husaberg technology.{this will be interesting} because 2014 husabergs are being built as we speak.And areally good chance Husky/Husaberg will become one at some point. Fact>when all production in Italy is done wich could be 9-14 months pretty much most all bikes will be built in KTM factory in Austria for sure.And that means like KTMs prices will be higher than now. Fact >intentions to vastly improve model selection by making alot of models like KTM has many choices. Husqvarna has a great future no plans to ever shut it down only to do as they did with KTM ,grow it develop new models and sell alot of reliable great bikes,what Husqvarna/Husaberg /KTM resources are used to do it time will tell what we get . The first year maybe a bit of this and that but Husqvarna will in the future be its own distinct bike .All these thing have to take place to make Husqvarna not only the great bike it has always been but a motorcycle with value and a profitable brand to build ,yet still unique to us that like that. So thats all I know for now but feel alot better hearing actual things that are planned at this time and of course things can change a bit as the saga continues .But im encouraged as we are a single line dealer HUSQVARNA .
http://www.motocrossmx1.com/?type=News&newsID=3366&title=Pit This dovetails with Bills excellent post - Husky is alive and will have new bikes for the Euro GP season next year and be a separate program from KTM.
I forgot to add Terra650/TRS650 And 449/511 will end when parts to build them runs out be that 2013or2014. MOSS tool replacement tool is in deveopment to support it even though will be discontinued.This makes me feel better that they care about building customer loyalty by standing by a project they didnt start.
