HARLEY-DAVIDSON 2021 MODEL YEAR AND WHERE IS THE BRONX?
Normally we would be presented with the new Harley-Davidson models at Lake Faak by September at the latest.
But Corona is messing everything up and we don't really expect anything more this year. It was clear that the presentation would be postponed, but even that is not expected until January at the earliest.
WHERE IS THE BRONX?
We have known about the Pan America and the Bronx since 2019, both models are aimed at a completely new target group and should appeal to new customer groups to date. Normally, new planned models at Harley-Davidson are always top secret and you only find out about them shortly before the presentation, if at all. Things were different with these two models; we have known about them for over a year, as they were both presented at Eicma 2019.
But since Sunday, the BRONX, the planned street fighter, has disappeared from all over Harley-Davidson pages. She is blown away if the new Harley-Davidson boss Jochen Zeitz threw her out of the program? The fact is that Pan America is given absolute priority, which doesn't mean that the Bronx won't come after all.
The overall circumstances are forcing Harley-Davidson to focus on certain models; the new platform with the Revolution engine opens up many possibilities. The cruiser project is also still in the room, which should land somewhere between an XR750 and Forty-Eight.
Postponed doesn't mean canceled for the BRONX, we just can't expect it to be with us in spring 2021, which will almost certainly be the case Pan America Which I personally would be much more interested in! She's more into adventure, that's just the thing!
Jochen Zeitz is realigning Harley-Davidson!
You can feel the nervousness in the company, first there was talk of 750 employees being laid off, now the number has been corrected to 500 positions, with some employees sometimes filling several positions.
From the outside you don't notice that much, but I assume that Jochen Zeitz will get serious, or as they say, he will clean up. Basically, it started around Christmas time, when people from the management level suddenly disappeared and the share price plummeted.
Under the leadership of Jochen Zeitz, it is recovering and is currently at around €23, which is incredibly important for the future of the company. You can say that the new CEO has brought stability to the company and the shareholders trust him.
THE US ELECTION WILL PLAY A ROLE
We can expect to find out more about the new timetable in the fourth half of the year. Zeitz will have two timetables in its drawer. If Trump is elected again, it is not unthinkable that Zeitz will close down the plant in Thailand, or at least only serve the Asian market from there.
Trump demands that Harley-Davidson only produce in the USA, but this is a significant economic problem for Harley-Davidson because of the punitive tariffs. The Harleys for the American market will continue to be produced in the USA, only the Harleys with European specifications are currently assembled in Thailand.
The CVO , Sportster and LiveWire , continue to come to us from the USA, including the punitive tariffs, although the LiveWire is not affected by the punitive tariffs. Trump has many patriots from the biker scene behind him who want their Harleys to be made in the USA, or rather that they all see the light of day there, as the latest US sales figures have shown.
And Zeitz needs a solution to the punitive tariffs that affect imports and exports in the USA. Somehow he needs a lot of solutions, because Corona is still here and dollars are currently being printed endlessly, which is not good at all, the increasing national debt will cause plenty of problems, just like in Europe.
What do we expect in 2021?
My last information was that we should get a fireworks display of new products in the spring, but at the moment I'm not so sure whether that's still up to date.
The current delivery situation is not that great, especially in the Softail area there is hardly anything available apart from the Low Rider S and there has been a run on the last Sportster models. There was a rumor in the meantime that the Sportster could get a grace period in 2021 in terms of EU standard requirements, but that is still up in the air, as this exemption has not yet been granted.
In any case, the supply of new Harleys in Europe is currently problematic. You can still get some large tourers quickly, but the supply of Softail models is very small. You could call it supply and demand, many newcomers say to themselves that if they can't go on vacation because of Corona, then it's time for a new Harley! Because traveling will obviously become problematic in the long term.
Street Bob is not expected again until January
The Street Bob is particularly in demand and unfortunately it looks like it won't be delivered until January 2021. If you want to drive a new one next year, you should order in good time. As with other models, production of the Street Bob is suffering from suppliers' delivery difficulties caused by Corona. It is obvious that if important components are missing, completion is postponed.
Harley-Davidson goods could become scarce in the near future, which of course strengthens the used market again.
How nice it is when supply and demand regulate the market.
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