i thought the same thing...............great things or a turn for the worst.... so far i havnt seen much of anything
Things may turn around..... I said back when BMW bought Husky, we were in a for a complete flashback to when Cagiva bought Husky from Electrolux. I could have done a twenty minute power point on all the mistakes Cagiva made, that held the brand back. I thought someone smarter than me would do it, but they didn't. BMW is reproducing ever mistake Cagiva made on both sides of the Atlantic. It took 4 years for Cagiva to get there sh!t together and even with great products, by then the damage was done inspite of a great racing success. A full 3/4 of Husky's World Championships were won in the Cagiva Era, not the Swedish Era and it wasn't enough. Gunnar spent alot of time talking about the Swedish era at Mid Ohio, but the Cagiva era, warts and all, is what got us to the present. Those who fail to learn from the past, are condemned to repeat it. Also... I think Rainer Thoma went a little too native for for the BMW guys back home.... but not enough for the natives. Don't step out of the boat!
I think too much is being read into Rainer's departure. It is quite normal for foreign managers to be switched out every few years. As Rainer came from BMW to begin with this may have been training for future career advancement. Also if he has family it would be about time they returned home. Most expat managers get rotated. And 3 years seems like a common number depending on country of relocation. The next guy comes from purchasing so quality and price of materials and parts will help improve the company's bottom line. This hopefully will equate to a higher quality product. They now have BMW know how to help support the Husky brand if needed. I am optimistic.
I am not reading anything into it. guy 1 was ther for a while, did his job, moved back home to family and parent company. Quite normal. Now if he was sent to the "sub-division" of BMW of Borneo....thats another thing...........
Darn right they have problems in the us and italy. When I called the Husky headquarters in NJ to inquire why in the !@#%$ it is so hard to get the progrip gear (halls got me the goggles and pants and jersey is on order. They answered the phone and all I heard was BMW. They did seem ok and wrote down some stuff and believe it or not my name was still on file from back in the fred Hoses days! Still I am a little worried, and the bmw/husky hybrid does not turn me on. BMW's have their purpose and Husky's have theirs. If it were not for poor planning, marketing stratagy, customer relations, parts availability, etc.... Husky would be where they belong. On top of the food chain, with the orange bike brand dead like it should have been in 1991 (sorry I dislike the pumpkin that much) They need to work harder in alot of areas. All I can do is win races and explain why in my opinion a Husky is the best. They need to do the job and although I'm 45 I must say they need some more young blood. I hope it all works out but I am still worried. We have 2 husky dealers in MN (I bought my bike from Halls) and at the Akeley west race 200 riders and maybe 2 Huskys!! Wow!! Not cool!! The magizines do not help much either. Ok I'm rambling on to much.
Pour Le Merite, AKA: Blue Max, Could be awarded to any military officer and was Prussia's highest military order until the end of WWI. Most famous for being awarded to high scoring air aces in propoganda. It was also awarded to U-Boat Captains that acceived ACE status. It was supposed to be worn anytime a member of the Order was in uniform so some Officers in WWII wore them from their service in WWI. Dwight
Seems a little funny how most relate to germans .... did you heard their economy is growing very well these days? .... It's hard for myself to see a large german company, owning a tiny dirt bike company in Italy, trying to UP sales of the bike in the usa ... Maybe upping sales n EU is a little more of a reality ... Lets hope one of these VPs want to enhance his career by helping Husky sales in the usa ... VPs in large companies like to move UP, not sideways ... egos , $$, titles, company profits, etc are at stake .... next stop after sideways is out the door for many ...
I confused Pour Le Merite with France's Legion d'honneur.... "Hurry Up Heinz" Guderian's position as a Signals and General Staff Officer in WW1, probably wouldn't put him in the same position as a combat pilot or submarine commander to win that honor.
Fighting as an Infantry Battalion commander in the moutains against the Italians..hmmmnn Deja vu all over again
He also fought on Western and Fronts in WWI. Why are all the WWII Axis powers and their neutral client States (Spain and Sweden) the dirt bike powers now?
Anyway.... Time to put this thread back on track. I hope the new CEO has some success keeping Husky on track. The next year should be interesting.
The world championships are the "big stage" to the rest of the world. The US championships are just that although we have the best MX riders.
Would the FIM MX2 racing be this stage?? ... I'm ecstatic ... Husky needs a couple hard charging riders here 4 sure I'm skeptical also ... but this looks good in many ways ...
