AMD 253 August 2020 American Motorcycle Dealer 253 | Page 64

Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, B&B, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MSNW, Electrek, electricmotorcycles.news 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 Continues on page 22 >>>