Just this week on the nightly news it was stated California is the 8th largest economy in the world. Wiki says the same and also it's the largest of the 50 states. There is no doubt money flowing in CA. :usa: Husqvarna for the win!
Revelle Harrison- Business Ad degree from Montana State. He must have been there to get the minor in skiing like I did my first time through.
If Husky were to purchase 'the Creek", I would purchase a brand new Husky every year. The wife says I could.
Personally, I don't think moving to California is a good idea. The rest of the motorcycle industry does not think that California is the center of motorcycling in the USA. At least not since the late 70s. High taxes and a bankrupt liberal state is not exactly good for the motorcycle business. ALSO, Husky needs to look at what their base customers are riding. Most Husqvarna customers are offroad riders and there is more Hare Scrambles and Enduro in the Eastern half of the US. IMO
I have to agree Dwight, but the industry seems to gravitate there for better or worse. When VOR Italy took back the US distributorship from ATK back in 2001, my friend Walter was East Coast Sales Rep. He did a little research that showed that for pure off road riding (Take out street and MX), California wasn't the largest market. You had to add in the border States to make the figures work. The Northeast and Ohio combined were a bigger market for off road bikes. In spite of this VOR went West. I've heard that KTM Austria isn't all that pleased with what it ended up costing KTM USA to move from Ohio to California. Time will tell the tale.....
You said what I was thinking. Why move to a state that is Hell-bent to ban the sport and on a path of self-destruction that is lightyears ahead of the rest of the country?
The state may be a liberal quagmire, but it does have the best year around climate for riding/testing/racing. Add that to the location of most of the other companies/rags in the business and that is why you go there. If anything the financial situation of the state will lead to less exclusion and more access due to the working stiff and his ideals are going to have to drive the rehabilitation. I don't know that any of the states woes are going to influence the decision one way or the other(obviously they didn't). That is just simply where the competition that you want to catch and pass is located. Beat them with a stick in their back yard. I agree that there is more HS and enduro competition in the eastern half of the country. The west tends to be just so vast an area that the travel distances are greater and the public access is actually still vastly superior causing a dilution of the need to ride in the competitions for access. I wish there was more available like when I was a kid. I miss that sense of community that you got every other weekend going to one race or another. All the issues are really moot as that is where they are going and we need to support the move as much as possible. Its not like it is that much closer to me. 1200 miles is still like on the other side of the planet. I still have to drive at least 260 miles to get to the nearest dealer.
I have heard the same thing. Why should KTM have moved ? I believe it just ended up costing them a lot more expense. They had offices and warehouses in Ohio. Lots of long time employees too. I think it has hurt KTM greatly and Husqvarna should have found a home more centralized and kicked some KTM arse. The offices of the largest aftermarket motorcycle parts and accessories distributor in the WORLD is located in the small town of Janesville, Wi. The second largest is located in Texas. Even MX isn't the biggest in California anymore. Too many restrictions on riding areas and the rest of the country has caught up with and surpassed California in events and riders. IMO
Fricken' haters.... This is comedy. I've heard of the East coast bias when it comes to Baseball, College Football and the like, I guess there's a West coast bias when it comes to motorcycles. Like it or not but the reality is that most of the manufacturers, aftermarket companies, race team headquarter's are based in Cali. I know this has already been said but the fact that in So.Cal guys are out in the Desert riding, testing bikes etc..while a good portion of the US is either snowed in or too cold and wet to ride probably has a lot to do with why it's where all the companies reside. I'm sure BMW/Husq. did their research before making this decision and I think it's a smart move in their effort to get Husky back on top. Not to mention the fact that more bikes are sold in Cali than any other state. I'm not interested in starting an east vs west thing, I'm just stating the facts and I'm excited about this news. So Mr.Foley, Krieg, Wally and the rest of the east coasters..... "I love ya, man." OUT
I agree with ya Jb610....I would like to think BMW did their impact study...before a big move like this.
I'm sure they did and I hope this works out. I'm sure the biggest reason is, the large pool of people working in the industry. The bulk of the industry is in Cali, so are your potential high caliber candidates. I doubt any of these guys would come to New Jersey to work for Husky. My main hope is that BMW Husky has really looked hard at the events of the last three years. In the past twenty plus years, Cagiva NA (located in NJ) and then Cagiva US (located in PA) made great gains in re-establishing Husky in the US, only to be cut down by management and finacial problems back in Italy. The last three years in the US were squandered, due to poor US management decisions, while Husky made great strides back in Italy. The release infers that Husky has looked at the last three years and is implementing a plan. I am a lillte discouraged at the time that it took to do this since Mark Brady's departure. This should have taken weeks, not months, but the Germans are quite systematic and thorough to a fault. On a connected note... The local Syracuse, NY Weekly News Program is on TV. The man on the street question is.... If you could throw one State out of the Union, which would it be? They are split between NY and California, with a few for Alaska and Texas!
Its nice also to have a national sales manager (Revelle) that is also real top level rider as well. He rips. Also cool to have Andy Jefferson in the fold, he also still rips!! it was interesting to see his name on the tecate enduro start list. http://www.dirtrider.com/features/141_0806_mammoth_mountain_mx_vet_photos/photo_19.html
From Motocross Action http://www.motocrossactionmag.com/M...IN-US-MOTOCROSS-HIRES-NEW-PEOPLE-OP-7514.aspx
