Loyalty meets economy at Harley-Davidson

MILWAUKEE, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Harley Davidson brand loyalty runs deep, but even loyalty can't overcome economic realities, one Pennsylvania customer said.

"This is not a normal economy," said Michael Summers of Fairless Hills, who normally would have traded in his 2004 Road Glide for a newer model, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday.

Harley-Davidson sales dropped 11.9 percent in the United States in the first three quarters of 2008, causing the company to scale back, laying off 730, with about half of the cuts coming from the company's assembly plant in York, Pa.

Traffic is down 20 percent this year at the company's 46,000 square-foot showroom in Langhorne, Pa., the newspaper said. And, similar to the plight of U.S. automakers, credit has dried up at the company's financial concern, Harley-Davidson Financial Services, the newspaper said.

But brand loyalty may win the day over financial concerns for some.

"Bad economy or not, I will buy a new Harley," said business owner Darlene Robbins of Egg Harbor City, N.J., who currently owns a 2004 HD Low Rider.

She will buy another bike, "as long as I can have it made safe for me to ride," she said.