American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 250 May 2020 | Page 64

H-D
RUMORS
STOP PRESS - 04-19-20
Reports suggest that the Nashville,
TN, planned MY21 launch in August
has been delayed to Jan/Feb of
2021. Instead of one big
national/international dealer show,
there will likely be small regional
shows or video conferences for each
market instead.
If the lockdown goes on beyond
June, that revised launch date could
itself be pushed.
First quarter sales are down close to
-50% from 2019, and at least the
same is expected for Q2, depending
on when they can recommence
production and dealer shipments -
that is assuming dealers can find
customers at that stage and that
consumers have the money to buy or
income stream to raise finance.
The current round of theoretically
temporary pay cuts could be
extended to the entire calendar year
instead of just until employees
return to work.
The current reopening date is slated
for May 26 - but the hope is to get
back in by the end of this April,
subject to state approvals, running
reduced staff numbers with six foot
employee distancing, mandatory
face protection, no
gathering/meeting in the facilities
and other measures.
Whenever employees do get back,
more cuts are expected.
Whenever the MY 2021
announcement does come, rumor
has it that Harley is to wave the
white flag of surrender and abandon
the hydraulic clutch on Tourer
models from 2021 on. The hydraulic
clutch was introduced on all
MY2014 'Rushmore' project Touring
models (except Road King), but it
has been plagued by recalls and
other tech issues ever since.
64
Tucker Names Marc McAllister
as President
On March 24, Fort Worth, Texas based
Tucker Powersports announced that
Sebastian Bretschneider was to leave
the company for which he had been
announced as President in July 2019,
just eight weeks after he'd hosted
customers and vendors at the
company's annual Dealer Expo in
January.
His replacement, the fifth executive to
occupy this hottest of industry hot
seats in the five years since Lacy
Diversified folded Tucker into the
Motorsport Aftermarket Group in
2014, is former Harley-Davidson
executive Marc McAllister.
McAllister held a variety of roles at
Harley-Davidson during his 24-year
tenure with the company. After
starting in product design and supply
chain, he moved to senior roles leading
the company's sales and growth in
Europe and Asia. As Vice President and
Managing Director of Global Markets
and previously the Asia-Pacific region,
McAllister led sales, marketing and
operations of the Motor Company
while working closely with
powersports dealers in each region.
He also represented the company with
board positions at the American
Motorcyclist Association and the
European Motorcycle Manufacturers
Association. His appointment has
been broadly welcomed by Tucker
vendors who are glad to see
management of the business back in
the hands of someone with motorcycle
industry experience and sales and
marketing credentials.
"Marc has tremendous experience in
powersports and in driving business
growth. That's what we need at Tucker
right now," said Greg Ethridge,
Chairman of the company's ownership
group, and formerly Chairman of the
MAG board.
"I'm excited to dive in and work with
the Tucker team," said McAllister. "My
experience building a strategy and
structure that delivers growth is
important for Tucker right now. And it
needs to be done while supporting our
customers and partners in this difficult
time. This is a tremendous opportunity
for me to help strengthen the Tucker
brand and the motorcycle industry."
www.tucker.com
Madison NVP Product Expo Cancelled
LeMans Corporation, the Drag
Specialties and Parts Unlimited parent
company, has cancelled its planned
annual Madison NVP Product Expo -
scheduled for August 22-23, 2020 -
due to the global COVID-19
(coronavirus) pandemic.
"We are very hopeful that races, rallies
and events of this type return much
sooner than the scheduled dates of
NVP. The decision was made based on
what we feel is in the best interest of
the industry. The time required by all
for an event like NVP is substantial, we
feel that our dealers, vendors and reps
will benefit from having that time to
focus on their business and in turn, this
will benefit us all."
AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - MAY 2020
Parts Unlimited and Drag Specialties
say they are "looking forward and
planning for the future with one goal
- to continue to support our dealers
and vendors as we work through these
challenging times."
"This plan started March 16th when
our sales team was pulled off the road
for the health, safety and wellbeing of
the industry and our communities. At
the same time, we took steps to ensure
safe working environments at our
Distribution Centers.
"On April 4th we announced
significant changes to our Dealer
Medal Level and Cumulative Programs
to assist our dealers while their
business changes. We encourage our
dealers to visit dealer.parts-
unlimited.com
or
dealer.dragspecialties.com for details
on this and future announcements.
"We will be there for you throughout
and are looking forward to putting a
plan together with you as business
returns to normal. We wish everyone a
safe and healthy spring."
www.dragspecialties.com
www.AMDchampionship.com