36654
New member
Voni,
Thanks for the link, but the article by my reading really didn't provide any parallels between BMW and H-D - at least not contemporary comparisons. IMO, H-D's biggest problem is how they have painted themselves into the dwindling "Boomer" corner of the M/C market. BMW, and almost all other bike companies are struggling with the overall decline of the general motorcycle market, but within that market, BMW is very competitive. Said another way, if by some miracle the overall sales of motorcycles in the U.S. (and the world) were to go back to pre-Great Recession levels, BMW and most other bike manufactures would be doing well. However, even though H-D might enjoy a small temporary bump in sales, they would still have the same problem they have now of sitting by a dying campfire.
What if they went back to the levels of the mid to late 1990"s? Strong economy, healthy wage growth and US budget surpluses? They survived at that time. Why is the "bubble" market of the pre-Great Recession your benchmark?