AMD 253 August 2020 American Motorcycle Dealer 253 | Page 64

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NEWS
BRIEFS
The MIC's Government
Relations team is urgently
calling on all members to
"speak out against possible
tariffs of up to 100 percent on
all 500-700 cc motorcycles and
scooters, as well as all parts and
accessories, from the European
Union and the United
Kingdom." The United States
Trade Representative proposed
this on June 24 - a template
letter is available for
submission of comments before
July 25. Scott Schloegel, MIC
Senior Vice President of
Government Relations, said:
"While our economy is working
to recover from the pandemic
shutdowns, this could have
disastrous implications for the
powersports industry and its
customers. The MIC and its
members helped stop this
proposal twice before and we
must do it again."
Indian Motorcycle has filed
trademark applications in several
markets for a project it has termed
'EFTR'. It may be further evidence
that parent company Polaris has
recovered from the dead end that
has characterized its 2015
acquisition of Brammo. Earlier this
year, as part of a wide-reaching
game of management musical chairs,
Chris Musso moved from Polaris'
international division into a newly
created role as senior vice president
of electrification strategy for all
Polaris brands. Musso's past
experience had included
responsibility for EVs under
Polaris' GEM, Goupil and Ranger
off-road lines.
BUILDING FROM THE CORE
Ex-Harley man Marc McAllister knows "there's a lot to do"
at Tucker Powersports, but the newly minted President and
CEO sees opportunity in the challenge…
McAllister is no
stranger to Tucker -
either in its current
Tucker Powersports
iteration or as the Tucker Rocky
we still all know of old. He's been
a customer of various of its
brands down the years, and
speaking to him by socially
distanced (3,000 miles) video call
as he marked his 90th day in the
job, he came over as a man at
ease with the challenges, but
happy with progress that has
been made already.
Indeed, he comes over as a man whose
sales, marketing and team building
background at Harley and elsewhere
has him convinced that he has
inherited an opportunity-rich
environment - despite the company's
recent past, to say nothing of the
multiple levels of issues that everyone
in the V-twin and wider powersports
industry is facing.
That said, he has taken the wheel at a
time when much hard work has been
done by successive occupants of his
role, when major restructuring and
cost-cutting should start to yield
results, and, as we both identified at
the start of our first conversation since
he took over the Tucker hot-seat, at a
time when tragic public health impacts
The Tucker annual Dealer Show will be staged at the rescheduled, rebuilt
dealer-only format of AIMExpo in January 2021.
do not, yet, appear to have hit the
motorcycle market as hard as many
others.
"I came into this role with a very stark
briefing from the board - there is a lot
of work still to be done, this is not yet
a healthy business they told me.
"But I knew that. I have known Tucker
'there's no
substitute for
Brick & Mortar'
for many years. Decades even. I've
been a customer and remain a loyal
fan. Despite its issues and despite the
times in which we live now in
motorcycle industry terms, this is a
solid company that can deliver solid
performance. The underlying business
model remains robust, and with such
strong brands - both our own brands
and those we represent - I think that,
initially, it is a question of prioritizing.
"Obviously, from a revenue and profit
point of view, that does mean an initial
focus on the off-road vehicle side of
the industry - motocross, ADV and, of
course, the ATV and UTV strengths
that Tucker has.
"But that is not to say that I am
underestimating the importance of the
V-twin market. Far from it. That is 'core'
for Tucker and remains a hugely
important part of our strengths.
Nobody should underestimate just
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