“I wish to God I could stand in front of everybody and say that you’re going to be guaranteed a job for life,” Wandell said. “We’d all be great friends and pat each other on the back and walk into the sunset together. You know what? Life isn’t that simple.”

“I will come to work every day, roll up my sleeves, work next to you on the line, whatever has to happen to ensure that we are a great company,” Wandell said. “But I’m not going to tell people something that isn’t true.”

A member of the United of the United Steelworkers Union, Deborah Evans, claims that unionized production workers “aren’t feeling the love” from Harley-Davidson’s Management.

The situation with Harley-Davidson is eerily similar to what American Car manufacturers have had to deal with during the Great Recession. It will no doubt be interesting to see how this story plays out.

2010 H-D 1st Quarter Results Beat Expectations

Boosted by Harley-Davidson’s Financial Services return to profitability, motorcycle retail sales that declined less than expected, and rising stock shares, Harley-Davidson released its 2010 First Quarter results with optimism today. The Motor Company’s first-quarter 2010 income from continuing operations was reported at $68.7 million, or $0.29 per share, which exceeded analysts’ projections of $0.22 per share. The three quarter slump of H-D’s Financial Services was broken by a reported first quarter operating income of $26.7 million, an increase of $15.5 million compared to the same quarter results from 2009. The improvement was said to be driven by improved credit performance in the retail motorcycle loan portfolio and by a lower cost of funds. And backed by the announcement of its first quarter results, Harley stocks jumped this morning with a $2.58 gain to $35.35, a rise of 7.9%.

“We are encouraged by our progress in the first quarter,” said Keith Wandell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Harley-Davidson, Inc. “We are seeing directional improvement in our dealers’ retail motorcycle sales as we enter the key selling season. At the same time, given the global economic uncertainty that still exists, we believe conditions will remain challenging throughout this year, and we will continue to factor that into how we manage the business.

Read Entire Story

Post Courtesy of Motorcycle USA, Editor Bryan Harley

Things went pretty well for their new CEO, Keith Wandell, during the first eight months of running the troubled motorcycle manufacturer. According to a regulatory filing he received a pay package of $6.4 million dollars for being the head hog during 2009. Keith E. Wandell received a base salary of $650,025 from his start date of May 1 through the end of 2009, according to proxy a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He received a bonus of $780,030 and stock and option awards valued at $4.9 million at the time they were issued.

There is no doubt that Mr. Wandell has a tough road ahead as Harley-Davidson’s boss as he acknowledged that the U.S. motorcycle market will likely take more than a year to rebound fully, if it ever does, amid a pullback in discretionary spending, he said in an interview back in January.

Source [The Associated Press, Read Entire Story]