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Report: Harley-Davidson Laying Off Hundreds of American Workers, Sending Jobs to Thailand
brietbart ^ | 05/14/2018 | John Binder

Posted on 05/15/2018 5:52:21 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27

Harley-Davidson, the iconic American motorcycle company, is set to lay off hundreds of American workers at its Kansas City, Missouri factory while creating jobs in Thailand. After laying off nearly 200 American manufacturing workers last year, as Breitbart News reported, Harley-Davidson is expected to fully close its Kansas City manufacturing facility, leaving 800 workers out of work.

Harley-Davidson executives say about 400 jobs will be sent to the corporation’s York, Pennsylvania manufacturing plant, but union workers allege their jobs are being sent overseas to Thailand.

In remarks to USA Today, a manufacturing worker who’s been at Harley-Davidson for more than 20 years will lose his job at the Kansas City Harley-Davidson facility. He says his job is going to Bangkok, Thailand, where the corporation is expanding jobs.

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: Missouri
KEYWORDS: 1; harleydavidson; jobs; layingoff; layoffs; manufacturing; thailand
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1 posted on 05/15/2018 5:52:21 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
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Who is Harry Davidson you might ask....


2 posted on 05/15/2018 5:55:23 AM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Thailand? (obligatory reference)


3 posted on 05/15/2018 5:56:05 AM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Laying off Americans to save on labor for a grossly-overpriced scooter. Murica! /s


4 posted on 05/15/2018 5:58:33 AM PDT by Bryanw92 (Asking a pro athlete for political advice is like asking a cavalry horse for tactical advice.)
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To: Gene Eric
Who is Harry Davidson you might ask....

I found him.

The Duke Symphony Orchestra, directed by Harry Davidson, numbers some 80-100 players and draws its membership almost entirely from the student body.

5 posted on 05/15/2018 6:00:37 AM PDT by deoetdoctrinae (Donate monthly and end FReepathons.)
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To: ChicagoConservative27
From my perspective as a Thailand resident it makes a lot of sense. Big bikes are starting to be in demand here, but the import taxes can be like 100%. I know a guy that paid almost $10K to import his 6 year old BMW here 2 years ago.

So get big bikes made in Thailand and make a dent in the Asian market.

And from what I see, the Harley resurgence of the 90s is almost gone, but the inventory is high.

6 posted on 05/15/2018 6:07:12 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage? (Drain the Swamp. Build the Wall.)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

It has always been my impression that those that prefer Harley motorcycles despise Asian bikes. This may be another case where a business does not fully understand their customers.


7 posted on 05/15/2018 6:13:22 AM PDT by CIB-173RDABN (US out of the UN, UN out of the US)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

I hope their sales plummet. I hate listening to these POS cycles go by. South Park had Harley riders nailed correctly.


8 posted on 05/15/2018 6:29:08 AM PDT by Tigercap
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To: Bryanw92

“Laying off Americans to save on labor for a grossly-overpriced scooter. Murica! /s”

Yah, for sure. Harley has bigger problems than laying off a mere 400 employees. Their market base is old, aging out, dying. Consequently, sales and revenue is dropping. Harley, if it wants to survive, must come up with bikes that excite millennials, young folks....


9 posted on 05/15/2018 6:31:12 AM PDT by snoringbear (W,E.oGovernment is the Pimp,)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
" And from what I see, the Harley resurgence of the 90s is almost gone, but the inventory is high."

Yes a boomer / Harry Dent phenomenon. Harry was ( he maybe retired ) Mutual Fund wonk who followed the spending patterns of boomers via their wants and needs and yes H.D. was one of his picks / to add to the portfolio.

Overseas to beat tariffs on the way in? Hmmm.... Private message coming...

10 posted on 05/15/2018 6:51:55 AM PDT by taildragger ("Do you hear the people Singing? Singing the Song of Angry Men!")
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To: ChicagoConservative27

” union workers”

Found the problem.


11 posted on 05/15/2018 6:53:12 AM PDT by AppyPappy (Don't mistake your dorm political discussions with the desires of the nation)
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To: snoringbear

“Harley, if it wants to survive, must come up with bikes that excite millennials, young folks”

They’ll have to be sold under a different name. You’ll ruin the name if you make a cheap version.


12 posted on 05/15/2018 7:20:45 AM PDT by cymbeline
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Bad move. Their brand equity is that they are the American motor cycle company. Honda makes great bikes that look similar, but to many folk they don’t cut it because, well, they just aint Harley’s. But what happens when Harley’s aint Harley’s anymore, except for the sticker on them?


13 posted on 05/15/2018 8:08:07 AM PDT by pepsi_junkie (Russians couldnt have done a better job destroying sacred American institutions than Democrats have)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

They just can’t compete with the quality and inovation of Japanese and German bikes. All they have going is the “sound”, and that got old.


14 posted on 05/15/2018 8:12:51 AM PDT by Dogbert41 (When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe. -Luke 11:21)
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To: Tigercap

How I loathe the Harley sound-I really pray this company tanks. It’s a plague of brutal noise pollution and air pollution in some of the most beautiful areas here in Canada. . At 90-100 dB, they destroy hearing pretty efficiently too. Packs of mid-life crisis hubbies riding their HELOC Harleys have destroyed every scenic country road every summer weekend here. We have a cabin 5 miles offshore in Georgian Bay and we can still hear them. God knows what the mainland cottages experience when a pack of 50 of them go by. It’s really one of the great mysteries why some folks seem incapable of having a good time without bad music and modified exhausts and not giving a crap who they disturb.


15 posted on 05/15/2018 8:39:19 AM PDT by Antioch (Benedikt Gott Geschickt)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

HD, over-rated status symbols.

Go out, get a 70s or 80s japan bike, bob it and its cooler and hipper than any factory HD on the road.


16 posted on 05/15/2018 9:41:13 AM PDT by Para-Ord.45 (Americans, happy in tutelage by the reflection that they have chosen their own dictators.)
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To: Antioch

Ditto.

Never understood and never will why a motor vehicle with four wheels legally require mufflers and cats while 2 wheel vehicles can run a straight pipe 2 1/2 to 3 feet long producing ear piercing noise.
Personally can never ride a loud bike. Its not pleasant and certainly rude and inconsiderate.


17 posted on 05/15/2018 9:54:09 AM PDT by Para-Ord.45 (Americans, happy in tutelage by the reflection that they have chosen their own dictators.)
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To: snoringbear
must come up with bikes that excite millennials, young folks.

They've tried. And failed. The Buell. The V-rod. The Dyna line. All were innovative, but just didn't sell. So Harley scrapped them.

They just keep trying to sell higher and higher priced bikes to the geriatric crowd which is riding less and less. CVO Limited for $43000? Seriously?

800 pound bikes with maybe 60 HP? My Triumph '15 Tiger Explorer is 600 pounds with 140 HP.

Some lighter sport bikes are even more HP.

Nostalgia just isn't going to cut it. Son's of Anarchy sold a lot of bikes for HD, but I don't think millennials watch rerun tv.

18 posted on 05/15/2018 10:15:15 AM PDT by LouAvul (The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Harley, a Rice Burner! Ha!


19 posted on 05/15/2018 10:16:35 AM PDT by CodeToad (The Democrats haven't been this pissed off since the Republicans took their slaves away.)
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To: LouAvul

It’s that $27,000 median price tag that’s killing sales of many brands. Even BMW is having a harder time selling their bikes at $27,000.


20 posted on 05/15/2018 10:17:52 AM PDT by CodeToad (The Democrats haven't been this pissed off since the Republicans took their slaves away.)
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