This is a MUCH different deal than the AMF/Harley deal in the '70s. What almost ruined Harley during that time was changes to the product and manufacturing that turned the faithful away and diluted the brand.
How to almost kill Harley: Brand the motorcycles the same way you brand your line of bowling equipment. Yikes.
For most owners and would-be buyers, this recapitalization will be an unseen, behind-the-scenes deal.
IMHO, what this provides is stability and a hand up after the past few very lean recessionary years and the cash to make some moves to improve Genuine's position in the market and allow for some growth. The Stella issues were costly but also came at a time when US scooter sales dropped over 70%, parts and accessory sales also plummeted and dealers were dropping like flies. Like a lot of businesses, it's one thing to survive, but to move forward there needs to be cash flow.
As big as they may seem to us, Genuine is really an underdog when compared with other scooter companies they compete with. Even SYM and Kymco are fairly large multinationals when compared to Genuine. Though Genuine imports and distributes scooters manufactured by other companies, it's a much different business model than domestic distribution for the other Taiwanese makes.
