New York - Legendary motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson said Thursday it would get rid of its Italian MV Agusta and US Buell brands. The company said it made the decision to allow it to focus resources on its core Harley-Davidson products.
"Buell and MV Agusta are great companies, with proud brands, high- quality exciting products and passionate enthusiasm for the motorcycle business," said chief executive Keith Wandell.
"However, our strategy to focus on the Harley-Davidson brand reflects the fact that we believe our investments in that brand are a better utilization of overall company resources."
The Buell cycles will be discontinued, leading to the loss of 180 jobs. Earlier production cuts had led to elimination of 3,000 positions.
Harley will continue efforts to find a buyer for the Italian-made Agusta brand, which it acquired in mid-2008.
Demand for Harley's products has fallen during the recession, falling 21 per cent to 64,000 motorcycles in the third quarter. Still the drop has slowed somewhat from a 30-per-cent decline in the previous quarter. It sold 1,850 Agusta and Buell models, down from 2,800 in the third-quarter of 2008.
Earnings released Thursday showed a nearly 85-per-cent drop in profits to 26.5 million from 166.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenue fell to 1.1 billion dollars from 1.4 billion dollars a year ago.
