Quote:
Originally Posted by srvy
I guess the York Plant expansion sealed the KC Plants fate. York is huge from what I hear modernized and will handle the work that KC was doing. I would think many of those KC employees will be offered a Job at one of the survivors if they want to transfer.
That was a fun construction project to work on when they announced that KC had won the new HD plant. The people were great to work with and we took a lot of pride being a part of building it. HD was in its revival after finally buying back all the stock from AMC. I think 90% of all the people that worked the site took orders on bikes. That was when you had a 4 to 6 month wait on bikes depending on model. Those were fun days Im said to see it go.
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I've only kept in touch with 2 guys from my time there and haven't talked to either of them for over a year so I have no idea if the union is still as bad as it was but for the sake of York and manufacturing in the USA I hope the company managed to get those guys under wraps when they threatened to shut down and move the York plant plant circa 2008.
I'm not exaggerating when I say they were like trying to deal with the mafia. They effected IT in so may ways (an area they really should have no influence) it was sickening.
Anyway, here's an article on the effect it's having on the York plant on the consolidation between KC and York:
http://www.mcall.com/business/manufa...130-story.html
Harley-Davidson to close plant, consolidate production in York
A deepening slump in U.S. motorcycle demand is spurring more job cuts and a plant closure at Harley-Davidson Inc., a company President Donald Trump has cast as a model American manufacturer.
The Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker will close its factory in Kansas City, Mo. and consolidate production in York, according to a statement Tuesday. Trump praised the company last year as a "great example" of a business creating jobs and building factories in the country.
The move will mean 800 layoffs at the Kansas City facility, beginning midyear, and it will close by the third quarter of 2019.
The company said it will add up to 450 new positions at the York facility.
Harley is consolidating its U.S. manufacturing presence as its bike sales fall on every continent. And the pain won't end this year: The company projected global sales will drop as much as 4.9 percent more in 2018 after a 6.7 percent decline last year.
U.S. motorcycle ridership has stalled in spite of Chief Executive Officer Matt Levatich's efforts to introduce models for first-time buyers and teach more Americans how to safely get around on bikes. Harley shares fell as much as 9.4 percent in New York, the biggest intraday drop since July.
The issue for investors isn't the fourth-quarter miss, which was complicated by a number of one-time items, David Beckel, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said in a note to clients.
"The story is, or continues to be, that Harley is in the throes of a significant secular decline," he wrote.
Sales in the crucial U.S. market fell 11 percent in the fourth quarter and 8.5 percent for the year. Harley executives said they're drawing more consumers to their brand, but couldn't say during the call with analysts how many are buying used instead of new bikes.
As bike demand weakens, one of Harley's rival brands is calling it quits. Polaris Industries Inc., which started winding down its Victory motorcycle operations early last year, projected adjusted profit of as much as $6.20 a share for 2018, well below analysts' $6.99 a share average estimate. The Medina, Minnesota-based company's stock plunged as much as 17 percent, the biggest drop since November 2008.
The Kansas City plant closing will cost Harley as much as $200 million through 2019, then result in annual cash savings of $65 million to $75 million after 2020. Levatich declined to say how much production capacity will be reduced. At the same time, the company is building a factory in Thailand that will assemble bikes using components shipped from the U.S.
Unions representing Harley workers accused the company in September of trying to "systematically dismantle" its hourly workforce. A spokesman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said the union didn't have an immediate comment Tuesday.
Harley reported profit of 5 cents a share in the last three months of the year, well below the 46 cent average analyst estimate. The company reported a $53.1 million charge related to the U.S. tax bill and a $29.4 million charge for a product recall.
"Harley can't get younger people into the hobby and the bikes are too big to be transportation in Europe or Asia," Kevin Tynan, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, said in an email. "That future is really dark."