December 11, 2011

Harley Davidson to shut their wheel manufacturing unit in Adelaide, 212 jobless

Legendary American motorcycle manufacturer, Harley Davidson has decided to shut down their wheel manufacturing unit in Adelaide, Australia and that too just three weeks before…

Legendary American motorcycle manufacturer, Harley Davidson has decided to shut down their wheel manufacturing unit in Adelaide, Australia and that too just three weeks before Christmas. This decision has come directly from the Harley Davidson Headquarters in US and the union of workers has termed this as heartless.

A total of 212 people have lost their jobs in Adelaide as Harley Davidson now wants to shift their unit to China. Harley Davidson has come under fire, more so due to the fact that neither the Government of Australia nor the Australian Workers Union was consulted before taking such a bold step.

Mr Wayne Hanson, State Secretary, Australian Workers Union, said, “It’s disgraceful, but how about the heartless timing for Christ’s sake. How would you like your boss to call up and say you haven’t got a job just before Christmas? It’s heartless.”

Mr Tom Koutsantonis, Industry Minister, South Australia, managed to speak with the MD of Harley Davidson Mr Don Gorgon in US. Mr Koutsantonis said that his government will lend a helping hand if Harley needed any kind of assistance. Mr Koutsantonis later said, “What this signals is (the impact of) a high Australian dollar. What they’ve done is taken their operations somewhere cheaper. It’s pure math.”

Tags: harley davidson, plant shut

Magnan

That is BS they make a good product there true Harley buyers will pay there prices even ours if moved back to the states but China has taken so much of our product lines because true Americans don’t want to pay the extra money to be made here.go to your Harley dealer and look at some chrome Made in China WTF either buy real or don’t bother bitching it’s about money true we all don’t have lots of money but these companies no longer cater to workers here or in Australia
Uptightbiker1

Shouuldnt surprise anyone.. H/D is a corporation that is dollar driven..Blame this countries slide into the adoption of European Socialistic mentality..Have two harleys one is a high mileage heritage with chrome covers on all the handlebat controls..Chrome long since peeled !! Harleys response- ur problem not ours…Bottom line until buyers of those products, me included, speak with our dollars they will push the envelope on increased prices & cheaper components..Especially the environmentally unfriendly ones such as chrome !!
Rick in Kansas

please dont do this harley davidson. I already had a foreign bike and sold it to buy a harley which i love. I paid lot more for it but i didnt mind because it was american. Please dont take this away from us.
TruAmerican

You should of seen this coming,My Heart goes out to the workers,especially at this time of the year!If Harley USA moves any where as far as it’s assembly plants;it will be to NC,they purchased the land 2 yrs. ago,when Willie and the Unions couldn’t compromise!NC is a right to work state and as with all UNIONS,State Federal ,Private you’re draining the Public and Private sector dry!Wake up,back in the 80′s I got to see a lot of jobs leave NC because of Northern union plants!It gives new meaning to Buy American!
American Trucker

You know, I got rid of a perfectly good v star to buy Amerian after listening to my Hardline Harley friends boast of American MADE.
Australian wheels? WTF! ,
So much for Harley being 100% American.what Tripe.
I should have and will go to the Triumph Rocket III Touring Bike.
Long standing Brittish Workmanship with no compromises.
- Jay
  
  Remember the classic lesson about not worrying about what your friends think?
  Like most who buy Harley, Franklin once said: A fool and his money are soon to part.
- Firemanp
  
  I don’t think it matters the manufacturer, pretty much all makes, models, etc. of bikes from everywhere have a wide variety of parts manufactured in a wide variety of countries throughout the world…just kinda the way it seems to be. Can’t say any bike is 100% homemade!
Mrcart71

BS every US company all they care about is what they can take from us if that’s what they want to do Fuck em they dug there own holes
Eaglerider

start flooding HD with emails! This is BS!
Eaglerider

go through the email channels that they do have established and flood them (hint – suggestion line)
Mdalege

bring the jobs back to the USA
Bear

Victory and Motus are looking better all the time,
Engrrvn

well, there goes my next bike, was gonna be a Harley, but guess I’ll stick with the “jap ship” lol. seriously, I do like the Gold Wing. Never thought Harley would turn its back on the American Public, or worker! Harley, Davidson, you can kiss my ass!!
Jmarkus74

Its a shame they closed the plant just before Christmas. But if people think that any bike is or has been one hundred percent American made is sadly mistaken, pull the bearings, the drive belts seats bulbs, chrome trim I could go on and on. So ride what you love. Don’t bash the bikes, bash the decision makers. People have to realize with the US greed company’s have to out source to stay in buisness.
Junglejim70

you harley guys and gals need to wake up and buy yourself a good honda….harley has been fooling your asses for years…..American made my ass………..lol
VPM

BUY VICTORY’s they are American Made in Spirit Lake Iowa. Support America!! They are great well built Motorcycles. Check them out.
Chris1234569

I own a Victory and a H/D. The Victory is a far superior bike, and made in Iowa.
Ncstedo

What’s really amazing the morons who don’t realize the article is about a plant they are closing in Australia, not the USA, lmao!
- Anonymous
  
  Hi,
  
  You know even we got a shock with the response to this article. There is a full fledged war on this page, and there are no Australian’s complaining. We have no clue how this came about
Rinleader1

Next bike BMW
HD consumer-unhappy

As a supplier to HD, we recieve components from all around the globe. Harley-Davidson is a motorcycle “assembled” in USA but we know the reality. It’s all about the paper.
nothappywiththis

I can see why. China doesn’t have an EPA so they can pump tons of toxins in to the air and not pay for them. A good scruber will cost millions to put in and millions to run each year. And this is why we have globle warming.
73oldsman

Don’t know why everyone is getting pissed about this now…the plant closing is in Australia! That is not America!! I do feel sorry for the workers there though. Hell, last Thanksgiving, a year ago, Phoenix College, in Phoenix, AZ. laid off my son and many others right after they all returned to work after vacation, no notice. All thoose big companies do it that way before the end of the year.