Just like with HD?

I read a column by Pat Buchanan the other day that said we should infuse the Big 3 with cash and enact protectionist legislation for the auto industry just like we did for the motorcycle industry in the '80s. In this way we could save the auto industry just like we saved Harley Davidson. Ignoring the obvious flaws in this argument, i.e. it's unconstitutional, it rewards bad decisions, it doesn't address the failed business model they are operating under, etc., I want to address the results of what Uncle Sam did back then for good old HD.

Back in the 70's and '80s HD was a joke of a motorcycle company. They made heavy, slow, unreliable motorcycles that couldn't compete with those being imported by Japan. They were owned by a company that made bowling equipment for Pete's sake. Anyhow, poor management, poor product quality, and superior competition led to a company on the brink of bankruptcy. Enter Uncle Sam. In 1983 the federal government enacted a tariff of 49.4% on all imports over 700cc. It was an extremely protectionist moved that angered our trading partner and saved a mismanaged company which was producing a crappy product from its rightful fate. It also forced many Americans to choose between buying a crappy motorcycle that they could afford or forgoing purchasing a motorcycle altogether because the quality products had been placed out of their price range due to the tariff.

What was the result of this move? Harley was purchased by a new owner and decided that since it couldn't keep up with the Japanese it wasn't even going to bother trying. Harley started using marketing terms like "Classic" and "Heritage" while slapping new hand grips or foot pegs on each years bike and calling it a new model. All this while charging a premium price. The end result is a motorcycle industry that is dominated by one company and that company is plagued with a lack of design initiative.

Is this what we want to happen to the auto industry? To have it relegated to a cottage industry while Japan and Germany rule the world market? I can't say for sure that I know that will happen, but I can definitely say that I don't want it to.

And what of the tariff? Could that happen again? With the donks (who are beholden to the unions) in control of congress and the white house it absolutely could. Though it wouldn't have a significant effect since so many Hondas, Toyotas, etc. are made here in the US and therefore would be exempt.



owever need to streamline, rework their business model, and get out from under the crushing union contracts they are tied to. How can the hope to compete with Japan when the average Toyota employee makes $45 per hour while the average GM employee makes $75? How can they hope to compete while paying 12,000 people to watch TV? Let them declare bankruptcy and attempt to fix themselves, renegotiate their union deals, and come back leaner and meaner. Don't perpetuate the problem by using tax-payer money to prolong the inevitable.