Another one bites the dust

[unixronin]

I quote from Dexter Ford's Megaphone column in the latest issue of Motorcyclist:

"As I write this, the Indian Motorcycle Corp. is no more.  Audax Group, the bean counters who bankrolled Indian's resurgence, walked away without warning, leaving nearly 400 employees and thousands of pissed-off Indian owners holding the bag.  Indian was selling more bikes in the United States than such prominent makers as Aprilia, Ducati or Triumph.  But the investors panicked, took their ball and went home.  Once again, all that's left is a name."

This after Indian just had a record-breaking sales year in 2003, and had a dynamite line-up of models for 2004.  Once again, timid accountants manage to snatch stunning defeat from the very jaws of victory.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't want an Indian myself and probably never would.  It's just not my kind of bike.  But Indian is - or was - a good company, and a classic marque that deserved much better than this.

Comments

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Aw. That's seriously disappointing.

[kshandra]

Oh my fucking $DEITY. That's just beyond wrong.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

What's worse, it seems they pulled the plug three days before Indian was due to release their new 2004-model Indian Chief, which had over 100 technical improvements from the '03 model.  Indian was working on their own unique engine architecture, and had plans to extend their product line into sportbikes and become a global company again.

I always felt the US Government treated Indian very shabbily.  During World War 2, Indian devoted its entire production to scout and dispatch motorcycles for the US Army, and sold them to the Army at a loss, while Harley Davidson continued to sell their motorcycles profitably in the domestic civilian market.  By the time the war ended, Indian was heavily in debt and Harley Davidson solidly in control of the peacetime market, and the reward Indian got for its patriotism was to be ignored and left to founder.  You'd think the government could at least have reimbursed Indian for the money it had lost supporting the war effort.  Hell, even just a Presidential declaration of thanks to Indian for their support of the war effort would probably have stirred up enough business for them to keep them alive until they could get back on their feet.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

OK, that goes beyond disappointing right through "just plain stupid" to "boneheaded in the extreme" both on the part of the Government _and_ Indian's accountants.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Well, Indian's attitude on it was "Our country is at war, we're going to support our country as best we can by providing these motorcycles for the lowest price we can manage."  They didn't figure on being just hung out to dry after the war ended.  I believe I've read that they planned to continue to supply motorcycles to the military after the war, but at a reasonable markup, in addition to getting back into the civilian market.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

I'm not for one second faulting Indian for selling bikes to the Army at a loss during the war, _nor_ for planning to _keep_ selling them for cheap to the Army after the war. Those aren't the accountants I want to bitchslap. The ones who pulled the boneheaded manoeuvre of yanking the company's feet out from under it this year are.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

My apologies, I misunderstood which set you were referring to.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

No worries. It happens.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

$DEITY

*snork* *choke* *giggle*

That fits my new pledge even better than "this space for rent"...

"One nation, under $DEITY, with liberty and justice, for all."

-Ogre

[kshandra]

I'm praying to (your god's name here).
I'm worshipping (your god's name here).
Jesus is grand, for his teachings I'll stand,
and Pele is fine for destructive divines.
Hashemi's okay, I could daven all day but
have faith just in (your god's name here).

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/8789/ygnh.htm

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Well, so what seriously happened is that they didn't instantly sell as many bikes as HD, and the guys who thought it was going to be an instant means of acquiring bignum cash decided to drop it.

FWIW, in spite of the fact that they sold a reasonable number of bikes, I believe they were still going the wrong direction in the money flow department, what with tooling costs, facility, etc.

Yes, Bean Counters have killed a lot of motorcycle companies. They will probably kill a lot more. OTOH, this gives this fellow (http://www.p2r.se/mc/dakota4/) a chance to pick up the name for his actual Indian designs.

-Ogre

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Sweet.  Very distinctive, and look at that fat torque curve.  Better watch that right leg though ...

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Aftermarket heat shield. Actually, it's dumb that a $43k bike should need an aftermarket $5 part.

-Ogre

But... but ...

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

...REAL motorcyclists have charred boots!
(j/k)