BMW/Harley
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Thread: BMW/Harley

  1. #1
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    BMW/Harley

    So, I have a few friends that ride BMW's, and are members of the BMW Owners group, that publishes a monthly BMW magazine. They usually give me the mags, when they are done, as sometimes there are interesting articles. So, I just read with astonishment, in the April 2020 issue, BMW AG, has recently purchased "a majority stake" in Harley-Davidson Motor Company. Apparently, with Harley struggling financially, and their stock being low, BMW saw an opportunity, to purchase at low cost, and this gives BMW a significant opportunity, to increase there sales and distribution, thru the existing Harley dealerships, world wide. I never saw this coming, and many BMW owners didn't either.
    The article goes on to say BMW has met with Wisconsin Governor, and is building a new corporate office, in Wisconsin. Further in the article, It quotes Hans Gruber, BMW's director of acquisitions, says the move will allow BMW to control the future of Harley, by limiting the production of competing models, as those seen to be direct competition to BMW's upcoming R18. Also, the possibility of the Harley "Pan American", a powerful bike that could ruin the BMW R1250 GS sales, that BMW officials were ready to do anything necessary to stop that possibility form happening.
    So, maybe some of you already knew this, but it was news to me. So, sometime in the future, BMW's , will be in Harley shops. Never thought I'd see that.

  2. #2
    Senior Member billsim's Avatar
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    Looked for the news and found that this has been an April Fools item since 2011.
    Not saying it won't happen, but it has not happened yet.

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    Senior Member DaWadd's Avatar
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    Wow, that's interesting.
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    Member Jhox's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jm21ddd15 View Post
    It quotes Hans Gruber, BMW's director of acquisitions, says the move will allow BMW to control the future of Harley, by limiting the production of competing models, as those seen to be direct competition to BMW's upcoming R18. Also, the possibility of the Harley "Pan American", a powerful bike that could ruin the BMW R1250 GS sales, that BMW officials were ready to do anything necessary to stop that possibility form happening.
    So, maybe some of you already knew this, but it was news to me. So, sometime in the future, BMW's , will be in Harley shops. Never thought I'd see that.


    Hans Gruber

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    Quote Originally Posted by billsim View Post
    Looked for the news and found that this has been an April Fools item since 2011.
    Not saying it won't happen, but it has not happened yet.
    Well, you may be correct, however, it IS published in the BMW owner of America magazine. Sure sounds authentic.

  6. #6
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    So, I'm curious
    where you saw it was an April Fools prank. I just did a google search, and there were several articles about it. Time will tell.

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    Hopefully Bilism is right. Here is a post from 2011 on a Bmw Forum.


    https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread...arley-Davidson

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    Senior Member billsim's Avatar
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    It appears in a forum for BMW owners back in 2011, but nothing in the regular news or the company websites indicating such a major acquisition.
    Would think that this would be a major story and would be headlines everywhere.

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    Senior Member Travelor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by billsim View Post
    It appears in a forum for BMW owners back in 2011, but nothing in the regular news or the company websites indicating such a major acquisition.
    Would think that this would be a major story and would be headlines everywhere.
    OMG, Bilsim is right. It's an April Fools joke. BMW MOA does one every year. I mean, really, think about it. Why would one of the few (if not the only) motorcycle manufacturer who is actually growing sales want to get involved with H/D? H/D dealers around me are struggling big time - one large group of dealers is laying people off and closing stores. Way overextended. The K1600B and Grand America is BMW's biggest success story in years, and the majority of the sales of those bikes are to H/D riders.

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    Senior Member rdbonds's Avatar
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    Ah, good one by the BMWOA folks.

    In a former life I worked with some pretty Die-Hard (pun intended) Harley guys...HD Bar and Shield tattoos, the works. We'd occasionally draft up news articles claiming that Honda had bought into HD and leave them laying about. We would even draw up "Honda Davidson" tattoo edits as ideas for the guys, much to their chagrin. It never failed to get a good rise. All in good fun.

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