Buell has fallen victim to the recession after its struggling parent company Harley-Davidson shocked the motorcycling world by making the astonishing decision to halt production at its Wisconsin plant with immediate effect.
Harley-Davidson, which took a majority stake in Buell in 1998, saw its worldwide sales plummet 21.3 percent last quarter compared with the same time in 2008. Hemorrhaging cash and with its income down an enormous 81 percent, Harley is responding by cutting back production, switch off the lights at Buell and focus on its core business.
Buell chairman Erik Buell posted an emotional video message on YouTube announcing his firm's shut down after 26 years building innovative and fine-handling motorcycles.
"It is a testimony to what a small group of passionate and inspired people can do," said Buell. "We've produced some of the best-handling bikes of all time but it is with great regret that we have had to stop production."
Dealers will honour existing Buell warranties and all unsold new models will be sold off in dealerships at slashed down prices.
Meanwhile MV Agusta, the Italian superbike brand acquired by Harley only a year ago, will be put up for sale despite a multi-million dollar program of investment that culminated in the recent launch of Brutale. The official launch of the new F4 superbike is just two weeks away.
Company insiders insist MV "will be fine" even though a potential buyer is yet to come forward. There's some speculation that the cash-rich VW Group could buy MV after its executives expressed interest in adding a "premium Italian superbike manufacturer" to their stable last month.
Harley's financial woes have been worsened by its misguided decision to offer £1.75 billion worth of loans to sub-prime mortgage customers when the financial crisis took hold last year. As well as worsening motorbike sales, the loans, which helped employees keep their houses, means H-D Inc. has a black hole in its finances.
