US senators and congressmen did their best to keep the plant in Kansas, but everything turned out in vain.

Harley-Davidson in its last financial annual report announced its intention to close the plant in Kansas, despite American politicians, who tried to influence and solve the problem.

Approximately 800 workers will be left without work, as Harley-Davidson will close its Kansas City vehicle and powertrains operation plant. The senators used the last chance and wrote a letter to CEO Matt Levatich, reminding him the countless incentives, tax-breaks, given a company from Milwaukee, when it agreed to setup a plant in the state in 1996.

Many of the Kansas City plant workers have been with the company since its opening, so for them this work has become something more than just making money. For them it is a lifelong goal or dream. Luckily Unions are still trying to put some pressure on Harley, which has already officially announced its closure. They expect they will be able to convince the leadership. Anyway, it’s clear that it wasn’t an easy decision for Harley and it’s never good. It’s really difficult to conduct, so you have to make unpopular decisions and reorganize the company and production. For the last four years, the company has experienced steadily declining sales, even with some growth abroad. Net income plummeted by more than 80-percent in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2017 ($8.3M). The company's shares also began to fall. Harley’s worldwide sales in 2017 were also down by 6.7 percent, while domestic sales also dropped by 8.5 percent.

The closure of the Kansas City plant is part of Harley’s efforts to optimize production efficiency. According to a two-year strategy, Harley-Davidson wants to consolidate costs by somewhere between $170-200M, with cash savings of $65-75M after 2020.

The work done at the Kansas City plant will be transferred to York.

#HD #Harley #Moto #Bike