How Husqvarna can improve sales in North America

[Bobby]

(*this is a fork from the original "Scott Summers Tech tips thread" cause Bobby took it off topic LOL:http://www.cafehusky.com/forums/showthread.php?t=963*)

Who do we have to email at the corporate level to get Scott and his team back? A bombardment by the consumers is in order here! TW

Buy as many new Husky's you can and get every single riding buddy or stranger you meet to buy a Husky. It's plain ole economics. Husky is only selling 2-3k units a year in the USA. Let's say they take $100 of every Husky sold for marketing/racing purposes that only gets them $300,000 to spend for the year and magazines aren't cheap nor is Scott Summers. Summers would costs at least $250-300k all on his own and then you have nothing left.

So if we can get the buying public on more bikes,.....HSQ will have more money to spend on racing and folks like Scott Summers can be in the fold. HSQ never contracted Scott to race an HSQ and BMW Germany never proposed such an idea, Scott did when it came down to the last minute and while it was better then nothing for BMW, the whole fiasco soured the relationship with BMW and Scott's manager (why someone like Scott even has a Manager I am not sure)

 

[Stapleking]

As usual, you've hit the nail squarely on the head. Husky's revenue stream from NA sales is marginal at best. This point was made a while back in commentary regarding their current non-participation in the various bike shows around the country.

While I have no inside information, my crystal ball suggests that BMW will push to get the Husky line into it's own dealer network, especially those dealers doing well with BMW's own dual sport and off-road offerings, to ramp up sales. With improved sales volumes, more marketing dollars become available, resulting in more bikes being sold, ect., etc.

I think I am supported in this guess by the fact [this IS inside scoop] that BMW has killed funding for any new bike or bike-related projects due to the impact of the global economic meltdown on their overall vehicle sales. As mentioned elsewhere, we [Highland] had a meeting scheduled with BMW earlier this month to discuss a V2-based project that got abruptly cancelled just the day before, citing the corporate office funding cancelation edict. The current line-up of Huskys could be easily substituted for lack of new BMW-badged products in the segment. IMHO, of course...

 

[Norman Foley]

Buy as many new Husky's you can and get every single riding buddy or stranger you meet to buy a Husky. It's plain ole economics. Husky is only selling 2-3k units a year in the USA. Let's say they take $100 of every Husky sold for marketing/racing purposes that only gets them $300,000 to spend for the year and magazines aren't cheap nor is Scott Summers. Summers would costs at least $250-300k all on his own and then you have nothing left.

So if we can get the buying public on more bikes,.....HSQ will have more money to spend on racing and folks like Scott Summers can be in the fold. HSQ never contracted Scott to race an HSQ and BMW Germany never proposed such an idea, Scott did when it came down to the last minute and while it was better then nothing for BMW, the whole fiasco soured the relationship with BMW and Scott's manager (why someone like Scott even has a Manager I am not sure)

So much for the concept of Husqvarna/BMW investing in re-growing the "Brand" in the US. I'm very well aware of how many units Husky has sold in the US in the last twenty years. The numbers have been about 10% of KTM the last few years. Cagiva USA making the bikes DOT really saved the brand in the US.

If you applied this "per unit" concept to the BMW G450X in the US there would be no advertising or promotion of the bike in the US, as very few units have sold. Bobby, I know you'll say that BMW sells many units in the US and this is another model, but it's a whole new market and concept in reality. Look at what Husaberg is spending in NA to sell 500 units in '09.

If Husqvarna-Motorcycle USA thinks the best method, is to run on a complete shoestring budget to impress BMW Motorrad US how frugal they are, they may have no more success in the US than Cagiva NA or Cagiva USA had in the previous twenty.
Norman

 

[BlipBlip!]

So much for the concept of Husqvarna/BMW investing in re-growing the "Brand" in the US. I'm very well aware of how many units Husky has sold in the US in the last twenty years. The numbers have been about 10% of KTM the last few years. Cagiva USA making the bikes DOT really saved the brand in the US.

If you applied this "per unit" concept to the BMW G450X in the US there would be no advertising or promotion of the bike in the US, as very few units have sold. Bobby, I know you'll say that BMW sells many units in the US and this is another model, but it's a whole new market and concept in reality. Look at what Husaberg is spending in NA to sell 500 units in '09.

If Husqvarna-Motorcycle USA thinks the best method, is to run on a complete shoestring budget to impress BMW Motorrad US how frugal they are, they may have no more success in the US than Cagiva NA or Cagiva USA had in the previous twenty.
Norman

Oh No! I sense the reincarnation of the Ernesto Vittori years!

Toto****************************************, please tell me it's not so!

I'll now tap my heels three times and say... I wish I was in Kansas, I wish I was in Kansas...

To be continued....

 

[Bobby]

So much for the concept of Husqvarna/BMW investing in re-growing the "Brand" in the US. I'm very well aware of how many units Husky has sold in the US in the last twenty years. The numbers have been about 10% of KTM the last few years. Cagiva USA making the bikes DOT really saved the brand in the US.

If you applied this "per unit" concept to the BMW G450X in the US there would be no advertising or promotion of the bike in the US, as very few units have sold. Bobby, I know you'll say that BMW sells many units in the US and this is another model, but it's a whole new market and concept in reality. Look at what Husaberg is spending in NA to sell 500 units in '09.

If Husqvarna-Motorcycle USA thinks the best method, is to run on a complete shoestring budget to impress BMW Motorrad US how frugal they are, they may have no more success in the US than Cagiva NA or Cagiva USA had in the previous twenty.
Norman

Yes BMW's per unit isn't broken down necessarily into per model's own share of marketing and they also have the cross promotion of the brand as a whole to think of too in regards to auto and moto sales. The G450X is hanging in there, but there are no USA racing funds for next year period, not even continuing their support of club road racing where the BMW R12S holds several #1 plates both on the East and West coast. You will see alot of print add for BMW G450X, but not much money spent on racing in the USA by BMW NA. We will get to see BMW AG's racing money spent on Knight/Salmien/Tarkala on the world circuit and Knighter is forecasting he'll campaign the first few rounds of the GNCC to acclimate himself to the G450X for future WEC rounds later in the year.

As for the way BMW/HSQ NA are co-existing and letting HSQ branch out on their own,........that's how HSQ want's it short of sharing some of the same facilities and such. This is good in regards to letting HSQ build on their platform their way and not re-inventing the wheel so to say, but it also means slower growth rather then potentially a more rapid and well funded approach which is risky for both BMW and HSQ. BMW nor HSQ has pushed on the whole for BMW dealers to take on HSQ. We had the inside track and went to Cagiva to setup as a dealer before the BMW takeover middle of this year knowing that it would take 6-12 months for HSQ/BMW to get their act together and not letting someone else in the area take it over before we did. Our shop as a whole rides alot of dirt and we were tired of the normal cliche "orange" blood sydnrome, so we took on a line we wanted to ride in the dirt and just so happened to have ties with BMW. It just so happened that the local intown shop was struggling with HSQ (Ducati and Triumph as well) and was looking to get out of the HSQ business, subsequently that shop just closed down it's doors for good. As a whole very few BMW shops will be taking on HSQ and that's a good thing as many BMW shops are not able to think or support the local dirt guy in a fashion he's accustomed to.

While there hasn't been a mission statement or anything official of the such I will say this.

In 2009 we will see HSQ IT and HSQ NA get their foundation and network in good shape, come 2010 model year we are going to see some serious changes from re-vamped models to entirely new components on a few models. For better or worse, there's going to be alot going on with HSQ the next couple of years. Time will tell how it all turns out.

 

[Norman Foley]

As usual, you've hit the nail squarely on the head. Husky's revenue stream from NA sales is marginal at best. This point was made a while back in commentary regarding their current non-participation in the various bike shows around the country.

While I have no inside information, my crystal ball suggests that BMW will push to get the Husky line into it's own dealer network, especially those dealers doing well with BMW's own dual sport and off-road offerings, to ramp up sales. With improved sales volumes, more marketing dollars become available, resulting in more bikes being sold, ect., etc.

I think I am supported in this guess by the fact [this IS inside scoop] that BMW has killed funding for any new bike or bike-related projects due to the impact of the global economic meltdown on their overall vehicle sales. As mentioned elsewhere, we [Highland] had a meeting scheduled with BMW earlier this month to discuss a V2-based project that got abruptly cancelled just the day before, citing the corporate office funding cancelation edict. The current line-up of Huskys could be easily substituted for lack of new BMW-badged products in the segment. IMHO, of course...

Robin,
BMW pushing Huskys into it's dealers in the US will just end up being the mirror image of Cagiva NA pushing Ducatis and Cagivas on old line Husky dealers twenty years ago. Not all BMW dealers are as dirt oriented Max BMW or BMW Atlanta. My local BMW shop which sells a lot of GS's, hasn't had a serious lead on his G450X's, either from traditional BMW riders or other dirt riders. He says he needs Huskys like a hole in his head. You and Bobby need to take a trip in the "Way Back" machine to 1988. I was hoping that Scot Harden would offer this perspective, but if he is, no one is listening.
Norman

 

[pvduke]

Buy as many new Husky's you can and get every single riding buddy or stranger you meet to buy a Husky. It's plain ole economics. Husky is only selling 2-3k units a year in the USA.
So if we can get the buying public on more bikes,.....HSQ will have more money to spend on racing and folks like Scott Summers can be in the fold.

Easy-er said than done.

Husky needs to get thier freakin' shite together and import more bikes and parts. And get to market on time.

They sell every TE and TXC prety much that comes to this coast. Even the TC's end up moving out as well. They are losing market share due to no product on the shelves and crappy timing. They'd sell each and every 4-stroke before they got dusty- IF, they were here on time and before customers went orange, red etc....

How are WE supposed to buy these bikes, when they never get here?!

 

[BlipBlip!]

As usual, you've hit the nail squarely on the head. Husky's revenue stream from NA sales is marginal at best. This point was made a while back in commentary regarding their current non-participation in the various bike shows around the country.

While I have no inside information, my crystal ball suggests that BMW will push to get the Husky line into it's own dealer network, especially those dealers doing well with BMW's own dual sport and off-road offerings, to ramp up sales. With improved sales volumes, more marketing dollars become available, resulting in more bikes being sold, ect., etc.

I think I am supported in this guess by the fact [this IS inside scoop] that BMW has killed funding for any new bike or bike-related projects due to the impact of the global economic meltdown on their overall vehicle sales. As mentioned elsewhere, we [Highland] had a meeting scheduled with BMW earlier this month to discuss a V2-based project that got abruptly cancelled just the day before, citing the corporate office funding cancelation edict. The current line-up of Huskys could be easily substituted for lack of new BMW-badged products in the segment. IMHO, of course...

I'm hearing BMW is going to pull the plug on the G450X at the end of the 2009 model year and move the motor over to the Husqvarna portfolio for street applications like the SMQ concept which is production ready.

So Stapleking I would have to agree with you that putting the Husqvarna product in dirt oriented BMW dealerships is a natural for short term growth, but then again only 10% of the BMW dealer base is dirt oriented.

Personally, I think targeting disgruntled KTM dealers which make up 95% of the KTM dealer base is the direction Husqvarna should focus on and I'm sure Scot is already working on it.

Just Saying

 

[Bobby]

Easy-er said than done.

Husky needs to get thier freakin' shite together and import more bikes and parts. And get to market on time.

They sell every TE and TXC prety much that comes to this coast. Even the TC's end up moving out as well. They are losing market share due to no product on the shelves and crappy timing. They'd sell each and every 4-stroke before they got dusty- IF, they were here on time and before customers went orange, red etc....

How are WE supposed to buy these bikes, when they never get here?!

Well our region hasn't had enough good HSQ representation in the past and particularly in Atlanta, consequently I have almost a full line up of 08 product on the floor still with the exception of TC's,.......but we never ordered any TC's to begin with. On a positive note we have doubled the HSQ's sold in under a year for the Atlanta market, but that still isn't enough to make it a profitable line for us either. We're sure it will turn around though in the coming 1-2 years though.

 

[Norman Foley]

Can't argue with any of that. I'm not really concerned about racing budget for Scott or any other team. Husky Bucks Contingency has done more good for the brand than anything, as it helps the guys really buying and racing the bikes. A little more in the way of print ads would a nice touch and the feeling that they are getting adequate staff in place.
Norman

Yes BMW's per unit isn't broken down necessarily into per model's own share of marketing and they also have the cross promotion of the brand as a whole to think of too in regards to auto and moto sales. The G450X is hanging in there, but there are no USA racing fund for next year period, not even continuing their support of club road racing where the BMW R12S holds several #1 plates both on the East and West coast. You will see alot of print add for BMW G450X, but not much money spent on racing in the USA by BMW NA. We will get to see BMW AG's racing money spent on Knight/Salmien/Tarkala on the world circuit and Knighter is forecasting he'll campaign the first few rounds of the GNCC to acclimate himself to the G450X in WEC rounds later in the year.

As for the way BMW/HSQ NA are co-existing and letting HSQ branch out on their own,........that's how HSQ want's it short of sharing some of the same facilities and such. This is good in regards to letting HSQ build on their platform their way and not re-inventing the wheel so to say, but it also means slower growth rather then potentially a more rapid and well funded approach which is risky for both BMW and HSQ.

While there hasn't been a mission statement or anything official of the such I will say this.

In 2009 we will see HSQ IT and HSQ NA get their foundation and network in good shape, come 2010 model year we are going to see some serious changes from re-vamped models to entirely new components on a few models. For better or worse, there's going to be alot going on with HSQ the next couple of years. Time will tell how it all turns out.

 

[Stapleking]

Face it folks, BMW, like the rest of its automotive brethern, is in serious bunker-mode. There will be limited funding for marketing initiative on either BMW or Husky sides of the house. For the time being, Husky is on their own as a stand-alone entity. Whether Huskys begin showing upo on BMW showroom floors may be problematic, but is it a near-zero cost way to get more brand exposure. A significant impediment to Husky sales is lack of dealers. None in CNY, for example.

Having said that, we are in times where there at no buyers, at any price, in any place. That is something beyond the reach of any mfr. regardless of marketing budgets.

 

[Bobby]

I'm hearing BMW is going to pull the plug on the G450X at the end of the 2009 model year and move the motor over to the Husqvarna portfolio for street applications like the SMQ concept which is production ready.

....................

Just Saying

That would go a long way to instilling consumer confidence in new models,.......let's hope they find a way to keep the G450X alive and use the power plant in some of the Husky's. The G450X is the best out of the box EFI thumper I have yet to come across and it's tractability is second to none. While you can get pretty darn good results out of a "powered up" TE450, you need a power commander and alot of R&D time to duplicate the refinement I've experienced with the G450X EFI. The G450X has alot of potential and it doesn't make any sense to have a $1-2million campaign racing G450X's in WEC if you don't have the bike to sell.

 

[Bobby]

Face it folks, BMW, like the rest of its automotive brethern, is in serious bunker-mode. There will be limited funding for marketing initiative on either BMW or Husky sides of the house. For the time being, Husky is on their own as a stand-alone entity. Whether Huskys begin showing upo on BMW showroom floors may be problematic, but is it a near-zero cost way to get more brand exposure. A significant impediment to Husky sales is lack of dealers. None in CNY, for example.

Having said that, we are in times where there at no buyers, at any price, in any place. That is something beyond the reach of any mfr. regardless of marketing budgets.

BMW NA's Sept 08 numbers were 87% better then Spet 07's and Oct 08's were almost 10% better then 07's,.........they were the only manufacturer to show a growth and not a 20-50% decline as the majority did. In fact BMW NA sold more BMW's in Oct 08 then Ducati and Triumph combined!

 

[BlipBlip!]

Well our region hasn't had enough good HSQ representation in the past and particularly in Atlanta, consequently I have almost a full line up of 08 product on the floor still with the exception of TC's,.......but we never ordered any TC's to begin with. On a positive note we have doubled the HSQ's sold in under a year for the Atlanta market, but that still isn't enough to make it a profitable line for us either. We're sure it will turn around though in the coming 1-2 years though.

Husqvarna, needs to get people on to some sort of a demo ride program.

If Husqvarna was smart they would put together a demo program through local dealers tied into local duel sport events as well as OHV parks run by the dealers and support racers.

The bikes sell themselves once you've tried them... I think Husqvarna would be surprised with the results.

JustSaying

 

[pvduke]

Well our region hasn't had enough good HSQ representation in the past and particularly in Atlanta, consequently I have almost a full line up of 08 product on the floor still with the exception of TC's,.......

On a positive note we have doubled the HSQ's sold in under a year for the Atlanta market, but that still isn't enough to make it a profitable line for us either. We're sure it will turn around though in the coming 1-2 years though.

If ya dont mind me asking, when did you get these 2008's? Beginning of model year or.....?

The Husky brand needs a shot in the arm of decent marketing- pure and simple. KTM was the same way once and almost failed as a result.
The brand has no market share at all. Yet, has porven itself in battle.

If you have some 08 TC's, my 401k would be in danger!

Best of luck sales-wise next season bud.

 

[Bobby]

picked up most of our inventory in March as we signed on end of Feb/beginning of March with Cagiva. While we've done exceptionally well with SMR's, we've also done well with the TE line as a whole. I ride a TXC and a couple of our best local Senior A Vet guys ride WR250's, yet we've only sold 2 TXC's total and both at race program or employee(myself) pricing.

 

[BlipBlip!]

picked up most of our inventory in March as we signed on end of Feb/beginning of March with Cagiva. While we've done exceptionally well with SMR's, we've also done well with the TE line as a whole. I ride a TXC and a couple of our best local Senior A Vet guys ride WR250's, yet we've only sold 2 TXC's total and both at race program or employee(myself) pricing.

In all defense... Husqvarna TXC models are close course and really focused for west coast use where you can access public land with an OHV sticker.

Back east the riders are looking for a bike that can be plated so they can access public land with some sort of a street plated machine.... that's why KTM was successful with their EXC line for all these years.

Husqvarna's GNCC race program got off to a slow start and was a work in progress that finally got good results at the end of the 2008 season... so that's one of the reasons east coast dealers are sitting on 2008 TXCs.

I have a friend who's a really good guy and supports the Husqvarna brand in a big way. His dealership is real small and he's a single line Husqvarna dealer, but he's sold over forty 2008 Husqvarna model bikes this year and all of them were either SMs and TEs.....No TCs, No TXCs and NO WRs or CRs.... everything was street legal stuff.

If Husqvarna wants to sell TXCs back east they had better have a national and local race program... or they're going to be sitting on a lot of unsold TXCs back east.

Out west the TXCs will sell on their own merit, because out there you just need an OHV sticker to access public land, but a WORCs and Desert racing program would go a long way to reestablishing the brand out west and it wouldn't take a lot of resources to do it... fortunately the guy that can do it now works for Husqvarna NA.

JustSaying

 

[Norman Foley]

We really hijacked this thread!

 

[Stapleking]

Bobby,

While Husky's NA numbers post-Cagiva improved, that is more a reflection of Cagiva's precarious financial circumstances leading up to the sale of the business to BMW. Also, NA sales are in any event a fraction of Euro sales for the brand.

BMW's car biz is taking a hit for the first time, in NA and globally, which is having an impact on the Motorrad side. The Munich knee has jerked, as it were...

 

[Stapleking]

We really hijacked this thread!

Ah-yup!