Harley-Davidson laid off 800 people this week and its CEO says Trump is partly to blame

[workinclasszero]

Harley-Davidson laid off 800 people this week — and its CEO says Trump is partly to blame
Brad Reed BRAD REED 31 JAN 2018 AT 10:07 ET

ast year, President Donald Trump hosted executives from Harley-Davidson and praised them as a great American company that would benefit from his aggressive stances on trade.

This week, however, Harley-Davidson announced the closure of a plant in Kansas City that will put 800 employees out of work.

And as Politico’s Michael Grunwald writes, Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich has said that President Donald Trump’s trade policies are partly to blame for this round of layoffs, as the company believes it would have benefited from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that Trump pulled out of at the start of his presidency.

“That would have helped us a lot,” Levatich said of TPP.

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/harley-davidson-laid-off-800-people-week-ceo-says-trump-partly-blame/

[janterry]

1. Our local solar company is out of business because of Trump

They are closing up shop in the next few weeks and the owner is retiring. He said he can't compete and this was the final nail in the coffin. (I'm in Vermont)

[workinclasszero]

3. Sickening

I'm sure "clean coal" will come and take solar's place any day now.

[kacekwl]

2. I believe most of Harley workers

and riders will still vote for Dumbo trump rather than be seen as a snowflake. Just my opinion.

[workinclasszero]

4. You are most likely right

Because those nice folks on Fox and friends will tell them so...and Limp Balls and Handjob...etc.

[Sailor65x1]

13. Not a single one of the very many I know

Fit your description. Go easy with that giant brush of yours, as the vast majority of us don't even remotely fit the stereotype.

[kacekwl]

14. My giant brush needs several coats to cover all but

I stand by my post because I also know many of them who outwardly would never admit to being anything close to liberal . What they think in private may be another matter.

[wolfie001]

34. You are correct!!

I work in a Union shop and many of the white, middle-class coworkers blindly and brainlessly support Repukes. Drumpt is their demigod. Stupid MFers!

[kimbutgar]

54. My hubby works for a major airline and about 70% of them are union members and Twitler

Supporters. They bash the union who just negotiated them an pay raise with hourly wages of $40+ per hour, medical, dental, retirement, and flight benefits. They drive home to the burbs listening to right wing sewerage of lies. They think Twitler is the great president and President Obama was a commie liberal who wants to tax them to death

[wolfie001]

55. The stoopid never ends!

The special election in Missouri gives me hope! Cheers

[Jimbo S]

33. I worked there briefly on contract.

Rank-and-file are union members to the core. I wouldn't categorize them all as Trumpers. Fair number of people of color are employed there.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

42. I think you have the workers confused with the riders

If Sturgis is any indication, the riders are definitely the Kid Rock/Ted Nugent / Sarah Palin crowd.

[tonyt53]

53. You nailed it!

[IronLionZion]

44. Especially John Kerry

I personally know some liberal Harley riders. And I doubt the black/brown ones have much love for Dumbo.

[yallerdawg]

5. 95% of consumers live outside the USA.

We are the world's most affluent consumers.

We want the best deals we can get - and our businesses want the most customers they can get.

We call this trade.

We have all the money and all the advantage - how can this be a level, "reciprocal" balance?

We're plundering half the countries we do business with!

Trust a fraudulent, amateur, TV-celebrity, self-promoting asshole to screw it all up!

We are just starting to get a taste of this Administration's economic policies.

As usual, the next Democrat will have to clean it all up.

[workinclasszero]

6. Clean it up and take the blame for it as well..the MSM will see to that

[leftyladyfrommo]

7. I live in KC

I think Harley Davidson has been in trouble for a while now. I'm not sure why. I can't think sales are too bad. Just about every motorcycle you see in t his town is a Harley. But there has been some strong completion from Yamaha and Kawasaki with their super fast bikes.

I see a lot of older riders on Harleys. They used to have this Outlaw image but I think they have kind of lost that. It may have really hurt them.

[workinclasszero]

8. IMO...their rider base is dying off

Every HD rider I see is a fat old man that has/had a good paying job and can afford to spend 20,000 and up on a toy.

Kinda hard for a young person earning 10.50 an hour or so and ubering on the side to run down to the nearest Harley dealer and buy a new 20,000 dollar hog.

Same thing is happening with Apple's new super expensive iPhone X. They slashed production in half because it is selling poorly.

Where I live a bronze plan on the health exchange was 700 dollars a month with a 7000 dollar deducible.

That would buy a Harley and an iphone X but....

The republican rot has set in, at the end of Dump's four years I expect a Bush-style recession/depression.

[Blue_Tires]

16. After awhile, everyone who wants one likely has one

and the hip, edgy fad where white-collar three-piece suit executives and their corporate attorney wives became weekend warriors putting on the leathers, tattered jeans and trekking up to wine country has mostly played itself out...

[leftyladyfrommo]

20. Everything changes.

I don't know what they could have done to improve their market.

Harley's just aren't edgy any more. And that whole bad boy thing is so yesterday. You know you are in trouble when all the bad boys are pushing 70.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

43. You beat me to it.

The young riders I see like the faster, smaller crotch-rocket bikes, like Ducati.

With the exception of the big anniversary year, attendance at Sturgis has slowly declined. In 2006, I'd see a lot more riders; now I see lot more people trailering bikes. It's a baby boomer thing and they are getting old.

re: at the end of Dump's four years I expect a Bush-style recession/depression.

I'm waiting to see if the markets take a major whack prior to the 2018 midterms (assuming we have free and fair-ish elections)

[crazycatlady]

24. motorcycles are one of the many things that are on the millennials' hit list

http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-are-killing-list-2017-8/#motorcycles-8

[JHB]

29. Different preferences and priorities do not constitute a Hit List

[crazycatlady]

31. Perhaps I should have used the sarcasm tag

And depending on who you ask I could be a millennial.

The article I linked listed all of the things millennials are 'killing'

If you google 'millennials are killing' you will get quite a comprehensive list.

[GWC58]

41. Ive never owned a motorcycle, nor

will I ever. My wife, on the other hand had one and, at some point in time, wants to purchase another. Hey I’ll ride on back as that doesn’t bother me. My brother laugh about it.

[LeftInTX]

50. Interesting list

Some is true, some of it isn't.

Some of it applies to all demographics.

Paper towels over napkins any day. I am 61, and the only time I buy napkins is for entertaining. I haven't bought a bar of soap in ages. I've never used fabric softener, neither did my mom. Fabric softener is an 80's fad that needs to go away.

I don't believe the Millennials will give up beer, yogurt and cereal.

[Jimbo S]

32. Their demographic is dying off.

Younger people prefer the sportier, higher-performing bikes.

[Fred Sanders]

9. HD would have been able to sell a shitload of bikes in the TPP countries...thanks, Trump!

[AtheistCrusader]

21. Unlikely. Harley makes shit bikes, and none of them are 'budget'. Can't compete with Royal Enfield

in India, for example.

Best bikes are coming out of Japan and Europe for a while now. In fact, with technology advances in ABS lean control, fuel mapping, traction controls, all coming out of Europe, even Japan is on the defensive. Just look at the manufacturers that are selling. Triumph. BMW. KTM.

Nobody wants a v-twin that is overweight, underpowered, questionable reliability, technologically inferior, and top-shelf price. Harley has the ability to produce different types of bikes that might be appealing, but every time they dabble, they get shit on by their base purists. How much longer that will last, I don't know, because their base purists can't sustain their company. Look at the V-Rod/Night Rod. It's dead. Not a terrible bike, but not enough to compete with a Triumph, and COMPLETELY offensive to the Harley purists.

Harley built itself into a corner, and faces the same fight as Indian and the now-dead Victory. (Only, they're in a worse position than Victory.)

Nobody wants their bikes at anywhere near their price. TPP countries wouldn't save Harley at all. This spiral has been going on for a decade. It's in its final act.

[MineralMan]

10. Harley-Davidson's Market in the US is Saturated Now.

A lot of retiring Baby Boomers bought Harleys to try to relive or restart their youth. Well, pretty soon, most of them discovered that riding a heavy bike is scarier when you're older, so they didn't ride them all that much. Maybe for some ride with dozens of other riders a couple of times a year. Then, they stopped riding altogether and the Harley sat in the garage until it got sold as a low-mileage used bike when some big bill had to be paid.

So, some other Boomer, bought the used Harley with almost no miles on it, to try to relive or restart his youth. The cycle continued. Today, there is a glut of used Harley-Davidson motorcycles on the market. Just go to the Craigslist in any population center, and you'll find them there by the hundreds. Today, in the Twin Cities, MN, there are 761 used Harleys on Craigs List for sale. They sell, but then they're back on the market in a year or two. What sounded like a good idea turned out to be not such a good idea, their owners discover after riding a few times.

So Harley-Davidson was counting on peddling their iron in other countries, where the Harley name still meant youth and vigor and where the old guys wanted that. But, Trump put the kibosh on that, so Harley has a problem of over-capacity to build bikes that won't sell like they did for a while.

And that's that story. Besides, there are other big V-twin motorcycles available that are more reliable than a Harley. A lot of old guys are buying those, instead of Harleys. Those are soon back on the market as used bikes, too. Oh, well...

[marlakay]

22. This made me smile because my husband did that

After he retired he bought a bike way too much for him and sold it without hardly using it a year later.

I think because he drove bikes for years when younger he thought no problem. Hurt his ego.

I knew better than say anything but was afraid when he drove it.

[MineralMan]

23. That's a pretty common story.

We guys get older and when we try to do stuff we did it can be scarier than we remember. I've been tempted to get a bike again, but have resisted. I live in Minnesota now. When would I ride the thing?

[Scruffy1]

26. Yeah, I couldn't imagine riding some of the things I did when I was young.

I am surprised Harley has lasted as long as it has. They are pretty much selling to a crowd that wants status toys and nostalgia. I had friend who was an engineer and worked for Donaldson corporation who had the contract for designing the intake and the exhaust system for the V Rod. When he got it all done and sent the prototype to them they called him back and said it wasn't noisy enough. He had to redesign it and it cost 10 horsepower to make it noisier. I don't think I would ever buy anything from a company who opted for ineffeciency in design. When I was young, I would sometimes buy used Harleys around Christmas, sort them out and sell them in the spring. If itwasn't sold by the fourth of July, you were probaly going to have to sit on it for another year in Minnesota.

[bullwinkle428]

27. The smarter ones are going with the trikes, but I think ego gets in

the way of too many that wouldn't consider that option.

[MineralMan]

28. Yeah, but those don't get many miles put on them either.

The wind in your face isn't all it's cracked up to be as you get older, somehow.

I'd love to have a bike again, but if I ever buy one, it'll be at least as old as the early 1960s and be no bigger than the 250cc Yamaha YDS-2 I had then. I'd just use it to hop around town and for trips to the hardware store or something. Like I used to do then, I'll bungee a milk crate on the rear of the seat to hold my junk.

[Weed Man]

30. Nobody wants to see your junk.

</end of joke>

[StarryNite]

36. I don't know,

if it takes a milk crate to hold it, it could be interesting.

[47of74]

49. Tripod jokes come to mind here.

[MichMan]

11. None of the candidates running supported TPP

[SunSeeker]

40. There was no TPP. What they opposed were the provisions they feared would be in it.

Hillary did not oppose a trade agreement with our Pacific Rim trading partners, she wanted more protections for US workers and the environment than appeared to be on the table at the time.

[Mingthemerciless]

46. In fact our base fought hard to kill TPP with Hillary and Bernie

Bernie on stopping TPP
https://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/the-trans-pacific-trade-tpp-agreement-must-be-defeated?inline=file

Hillary opposing TPP
http://time.com/4065320/hillary-clinton-opposes-trans-pacific-partnership/

In any case, Harley Davidson has been in a slump for a while. I don't see how they can blame a bill that never was law.

[TlalocW]

12. I'm hardly a motorcycle expert

I'm 45-years-old, and to me Harley = old person's motorcycle... and I include my age in that. You don't see a lot of 30-year-olds and younger riding HDs, and when I see footage from Sturgis on shows like, "Pawn Stars," or when John McCain offered up his wife as tribute during the 08 campaign, you don't see a lot of young people there.

I can't imagine Millennials being that into HDs either so THERE'S ANOTHER THING they're ruining.

TlalocW

[Initech]

15. So how's that MAGA thing working out for ya?

[Blue_Tires]

17. It's almost like Trump told them what they wanted to hear

with no intention of ever addressing their issue? Why I'm shocked!

Next week we'll hear from Trumpers who can't figure out why Trump still hasn't made the Mexican government scratch out a check for the wall...

[Cha]

18. KICK!

[hexola]

19. Im thinking PA is less unionized?

I know someone who worked at the York plank - pretty sure he wasn't Union.

[leanforward]

25. 800 jobs on the Kansas/Missouri border.

That's just what the Kansas budget needs. What is the negative multiplier effect of pulling that payroll out of the area?

Something I've not opined on is my fear the pRezident dRumpf/GOP actions will start a down turn in the economy. I think is has started.

Our current political leadership is to unstable for investment in longer term business development. "Lets wait and see, what else happens."

[CakeGrrl]

35. The same TPP President Obama TRIED to get done

but faced too much short-sighted opposition on both sides.

[SunSeeker]

38. Yep. So many on our side just refused to to give Obama the benefit of the doubt.

They just assumed he would negotiate a bad deal. Those GOP talking points are so pervasive, even progressives start believing them.

[SunSeeker]

37. K & R for exposure.

[SunSeeker]

39. That is not the only American manufacturer hurt. nt

[randr]

45. Working class Americans need to wake up

When the totals of jobs lost come in they are in for a big surprise.
From what I have read recently between the foreign tourist business and alternative energy sectors he has been directly responsible for the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.
His trade threats have American farmers looking at a grim future.
He has managed to put a few hundred coal miners back to work, people who should have been offered training and jobs in the growing alt energy field.

[47of74]

48. Hell of it is that they were offered training

A number of them refused the retraining because they all thought their hero would bring back their jobs and make ebil librul things like solar illegal.

[liberalmike27]

47. "It would have helped 'us' a lot."

The first thing I notice is how he doesn't exactly mention 'how' it would have helped Harley Davidson.

Next, I wonder, who exactly is "us," because I've got to say, it worries me when they use pronouns. Trade has been pretty one-sided. They get to add huge tariffs, while we don't get any. We buy their products a lot, and they buy few of ours. I just can't help but wonder what would have helped them.

Call me skeptical. I think the 'way' we've done trade, the way we've sacrificed once good jobs to foreign countries and "allowed" companies to move with tax advantages has been horrible for our country.

[melm00se]

51. HD's sales revenue

over the last couple of years has dropped from it's peak in 2014 which coincides with a drop in motorcycle shipments.

why?

"Our data suggests the younger Gen Y population is adopting motorcycling at a far lower rate than prior generations," AB analyst David Beckel said in the note. "Gen Y's are aging into the important 'pre-family' cohort of riders and Boomers are increasingly handing over their keys to the smaller Gen X population."

Source

As a contrarian opinion:

There’s no doubt that growing up in a recession has impacted the spending habits of Millennials, but that doesn’t tell the whole story of why young people aren't interested in Harley. The truth is, Harley-Davidson is a luxury brand cleverly disguised as a blue collar, workin’ man’s brand. It’s a name synonymous with regular, working class folk, but have you seen the prices of these things? Harley-Davidson is in the same price range as BMW and Ducati, two brands with a public perception of being expensive toys for the upper-class. We’re (fellow Millennial speaking) a generation famous for not having any money, so are any analysts really scratching their heads wondering why we don’t want to spend $20 grand on a motorcycle?

Source

[Hoyt]

52. Lots of companies and workers would have benefited from TPP. Folks on both sides poisoned that.

Of course, trump was the only one stupid enough to actually withdraw from that, rather than just playing internal politics.