HARLEY-DAVIDSON MODEL YEAR 2021 AND WHERE IS THE BRONX?
Normally, we would be presented with the new 2021 Harley-Davidson models at Lake Faak in 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. 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. This was not the case with these two models, which have been known about for over a year, as they were both unveiled at Eicma 2019.
But since Sunday, the BRONX, the planned streetfighter, has disappeared from the Harley-Davidson website. It seems to have disappeared, should the new Harley-Davidson boss Jochen Zeitz have thrown it out of the program? The fact is that the Pan America has been given absolute priority, which does not mean that the Bronx is not still coming.
The overall circumstances are forcing Harley-Davidson to focus on certain models, and the new platform with the Revolution engine opens up many possibilities. The cruiser project is also still on the table, which should end up somewhere between an XR750 and Forty-Eight.
For the BRONX, postponed does not mean canceled, but we cannot expect it to be with us in spring 2021. Pan America will almost certainly be the case. Which I personally would be much more interested in! She's more into adventure, which is just the thing!
Jochen Zeitz realigns Harley-Davidson!
You can feel the nervousness in the company, at first there was talk of 750 employees being made redundant, now the figure has been corrected to 500 jobs, with some employees filling several positions.
You don't hear much from the outside, but I assume that Jochen Zeitz will get serious, or as they say, he will clean up. Basically, it all started around Christmas time when people from the management level suddenly disappeared and the share price plummeted.
Under the leadership of Jochen Zeitz, it has recovered and is currently trading at around €23, which is incredibly important for the future of the company. It can be said that the new CEO has brought stability to the company and the shareholders trust him.
THE ELECTION IN THE USA WILL PLAY A ROLE
We can assume that we will learn more about the new timetable in the fourth half of the year. Zeitz will have two schedules in the drawer. If Trump is re-elected, it is not inconceivable that Zeitz will shut down the plant in Thailand, or at least only serve the Asian market from there.
Trump demands that Harley-Davidson only produces in the USA, which is a considerable economic problem for Harley-Davidson due to the punitive tariffs. The Harleys for the American market will continue to be produced in the USA, only the Harleys with the 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 Harley 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 for the punitive tariffs affecting imports and exports in the USA. Somehow he needs a lot of solutions, because corona is still there and at the moment dollars are being printed without end, which is not good at all, the rising national debt will cause plenty of problems, just like in Europe.
What do we expect in 2021?
My last information was that we were supposed to get a firework display of new products in the spring, but at the moment I'm not so sure whether that's still the case.
The current availability situation is not so great, especially in the Softail range there is hardly anything available apart from the Low Rider S and there has been a run on the last Sportster models. In the meantime, there was a rumor that the Sportster could get a grace period in 2021 in terms of EU standard specifications, but that is probably still in the stars, as this exemption has not yet been granted.
The supply of new Harleys in Europe is problematic at the moment, you can still get some big tourers quickly, but the supply of Softail models is very low. You could call it supply and demand, many newcomers say to themselves, if they can't fly on vacation because of Corona, then it's time for a new Harley! Because traveling will obviously be problematic in the long term.
Street Bob is not expected back until January
The Street Bob is in particularly high demand and unfortunately it looks like it won't be available until January 2021. If you want to ride a new one next year, you should order in good time. The production of the Street Bob, as with other models, is suffering from the delivery difficulties of the suppliers caused by Corona. It is obvious that if important components are missing, completion will be delayed.
Harley-Davidson could therefore become a scarce commodity in the near future, which will naturally strengthen the second-hand market.
How nice it is when supply and demand regulate the market.
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