Time for an update of the differences between US and Canadian process? We think so.
It’s now been four months since we first published our article into the pricing differences between motorcycles sold in the US and their equivalent models here in Canada.
With the steady rise of the Loonie to parity the differences became big news in Canada and threatened to hit the industry north of the border hard, as bargain hunters quickly realized that there was more than a buck to be made from heading south to get their next big purchase.
Our research at the time showed significant pricing differences between the two countries – topping out at close to 40% in some cases!
With four months gone by – giving the importers time to rework the equations – we thought that it might be a good time to revisit the issue and see who’s offering what … and who’s not. It also gave the importers some more time to set pricing for all their 2008s – many of which were still ‘TBA’ at the time of the last article.
Rebates, financing and OEM bucks
Okay, so just how do you jump into this issue and get a snapshot of what the importers have been doing to try and keep your dollar in Canada? Well, for this update we decided to cast a slightly bigger net, to include four European brands, three North American, and the four Japanese.
For each we took one new-for-2008 model and one pre-existing model, save for the Japanese where we added a third model so that we could get a litre sportbike, a large ‘standard’ (naked) bike and a large capacity cruiser into the mix for a better cross-comparison.
All pricing quoted is the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Pricing (MSRP), with the dollars compared as if at par, which we believe to be a good average to take right now. Oh, and we’ve included any cash rebates offered into the final pricing, but not any ‘accessory dollars’, financing or other hard-to-value incentives.
A) The Europeans
BMW Canada
For this comparison we picked the new F800GS and the K1200S. BMW slashed their pricing for carry-over models significantly, illustrated by the K1200S which is down $3,500 from ’07, or 17.5%. Despite this, the K1200S is still up 17.7% over the U.S. pricing, with the new F800GS coming in at 16.4% over U.S. rates.
To sweeten the deal they’re also offering 5.95 per cent financing on their 2008 models until the end of March. Since the F800GS won’t be available until after March, that rate won’t apply, but a new deal may be in the works in the near future (so we’ve been told).
Sample summary: Avg. +17%. 5.95% financing available.
Ducati North America
The chosen bikes for this article are the new 848 and the 1098. Although Ducati North America has done some minor price cutting to most of its Canadian line (about 5% – 10%), for some reason the 1098 remains at ’07 pricing (making it 25% up on the U.S.) and the new 848 comes in 23.1% up on the U.S.
They have no special incentives either, and reckon that they’re not needed because the bikes are selling at today’s prices, or so we’re told. Still, since they import both the U.S. and Canadian bikes in the same batch, the difference would seem a tad hard to justify.
Sample summary: Avg. +24%. No purchasing incentives
KTM Canada
The two bikes we looked at are the new 690 Enduro and the returning 990 Superduke. The Enduro comes in at just 10% over the U.S. price, while the Superduke does less favourably with a 17.4% hike, that’s even with a token reduction of $100 over the ’07 price.
Much like Ducati, KTM have offered some minor across-the-range price cuts (0% – 5%) over the ’07 MSRPs. However, there are no other incentives, but they do offer a choice of no interest and no payments for six months, or 6.99 per cent interest for two years.
Sample summary: Avg. +14%. Pay nothing for 6 months or 6.99% financing.
Triumph Canada
For our last Euro company we picked the new Rocket III Touring and the returning Sprint ST (which comes with bags and ABS as std in Canada). The new Rocket comes in at 17.6% over U.S. pricing with the Sprint ST at 18.6%. The Sprint also saw a $1000 price cut, with most of the Triumph range seeing some price cut up to around 8%.
Triumph Canada says it has narrowed the gap considerably, but for other incentives they recommend that you see your retailer, who may be able to offer a deal.
Sample summary: Avg. +18%. No (official) purchasing incentives.
B) The North Americans
Buell (Fred Deeley Imports)
Buell’s new for 2008 is the 1125R which comes in at a mere 7.7% over U.S., while the returning XB12S Lightning does a tad better at only 7.6%, thanks to a 9.3% price drop from 2007 (which applies to pretty much the rest of the Buell range too).
These cuts gets Canadian pricing closer to U.S. than any other company in our survey!
Sample summary: Avg. +8%. No purchasing incentives.
Harley-Davidson (Fred Deeley Imports)
The new Cross Bones and returning 883 Sportster are both within a very respectable 11% of the U.S. (10.9% and 10.7% respectively).
While we’re told that individual retailers may offer some discounts or other incentives, there is no official “factory” offer to sweeten the pot if you buy a Harley or a Buell.
Sample summary: Avg. +11%. No purchasing incentives.
BRP (Can-Am)
Okay, so this isn’t quite a motorcycle and to date the company only has one model to look at (and a new-for-2008 one at that, so there’s no ’07 – ’08 comparo), but since the company is a Canadian one, we thought this would make a very interesting subject.
The Can-Am Spyder retails in Canada for $18,499.00, but in the U.S. it’s only $15,995.00 (model with SM5 transmission for comparability)! That’s a 13.5% difference, but since we’re talking about a Canadian company with a new model, we still can’t see the justification.
In an attempt to narrow that $2,500.00, the company is currently offering an additional year of warranty (3 in total) and three years of roadside assistance, total value of which is $1,058.00.
Sample summary: Avg. +13.5%. Additional year warranty and roadside assistance.
C) The Japanese
Honda Canada
The big sportbike that we’re going to look at is the new-for-’08 CBR1000RR which has just had its pricing announced at $15,549.00 – up a considerable 34.1% over the U.S. This is a bit odd considering that Honda Canada waited until just last week to announce it, pegging it at the same price as Yamaha’s R1, but a whole grand more than Kawasaki’s new ZX10R.
The CBF1000 (Honda’s only standard bike in the lineup) isn’t available in the U.S. and is new for 2008, so we can’t compare that to much at all. However, the VTX1800F (their biggest cruiser) is a whopping 40.7% over the U.S., despite a $200 price drop from 2007.
Overall, Honda’s shown reluctance to drop 2007 prices, with the only discounting being with cruisers, typically seeing a couple of hundred off the sticker, save for the VTX1300 that saw a considerable drop of 16%.
As far as rebates go, Honda sold a lot of motorcycles with a program of heavy discounts on last year’s models, and the program will likely continue in a cut-down fashion with the 2008 bikes. There are no specific rebates or other deals offered yet on Honda motorcycles, but you can look for some form of (yet-to-be-announced) rebate that will “bring bikes to within about 15 per cent of the U.S. price at aggressive dealerships”, says Honda Canada.
Sample summary: Avg. +37%. 2008 model pricing incentives yet to be announced.
Kawasaki Canada
The ZX10R is new for 2008 and comes in with the most aggressive pricing of the Japanese 1 litre sportbikes at $14,599.00. Despite this, it’s still 26.4% up from U.S. pricing, which – according to Kawasaki – is a price that is ‘ready for the Canadian market’, so no rebates apply, but the other deals do (see below).
Their returning Z1000 is 22.6% up from U.S. pricing, with no pricing adjustment over 2007 and the big 1600 Nomad cruiser is a chunky 31.5% up, despite a $200 drop from 2007. However, Kawasaki have introduced a host of pricing incentives, with an instant cash rebate of $800.00 for the Z1000 and $1400.00 for the Nomad, bringing the final prices to around a 20% difference for both.
Overall, price reductions over 2007 have been slim, ranging from 0 to about 5%. Kawasaki instead has chosen a somewhat complicated bag of incentives which are only available until May 31, including rebates on most models, plus a choice of four options: 1.97 per cent financing for a year, no down payment with no interest and six months of no payments, $700 in Kawasaki accessories, or a $450 credit toward your insurance.
Sample summary (after cash rebates): Avg. +22%. Plus choice of 1.97% financing, no payments/interest (6 months), $700 Kawasaki accessories, $450 insurance credit.
Suzuki Canada
The GSX-R1000 isn’t new for 2008, and doesn’t see any reduction in pricing either, giving it a 33% disadvantage over the U.S. New for ’08 is the B-King, which comes in at a relatively respectable 16.3% differential. Their big cruiser, the M109R, sees a huge price slashing from 2007 of $2,600.00 to bring it within 21.3%.
Across the range, Suzuki have resisted dropping prices on most models, save for the bigger cruisers that have seen close to 15% reductions.
Suzuki is also giving additional rebates packages to dealers, so you might be able to talk yourself into a better deal than MSRP, and all medium and large Suzuki motorcycles come with 500 Suzuki “dollars,” which can be redeemed for Suzuki merchandise. To get that 500, you need to arrange your own financing, or pay cash, and you need to buy your bike by June 30.
Sample summary: Avg. +24%. Plus $500 rebate (in Suzuki Dollars).
Yamaha Canada
The R1 returns for 2008 and at the same 33.3% U.S. differential, though the $1,100.00 cash rebate effectively brings down that gap to 23.9%. Likewise, the FZ1 remains at 34.4%, but that drops to 22.6% after the $1,100.00 rebate. The new-for-2008 XV1900 Raider takes a similar course, with a $1,500.00 rebate bringing it down from 36.6% to a 25.5% pricing differential.
Across the board, Yamaha stick steadfast with their 2007 pricing except for their cruisers … Strangely, the Road and Stratoliners actually went up about 8%, while the Warrior and Roadstar remained static, and the V-Stars saw price cuts ranging from 0% (the 250) to 16% (the 1300).
Yamaha is offering a grab-bag of incentives until the end of March. You can get an instant rebate that varies depending on the model, or you can get an extended factory warranty and either Yamabucks (400 for the R1, FZ1 and Raider), financing down to 4.9 per cent, or a no-payment, no-interest deal for half a year.
Sample summary (after instant rebates): Avg. +24%. Or an Avg of 35% if you opt for the extended warranty and Yamabucks or low financing.
CONCLUSIONS
As we expected, there was no sign that anyone had taken the leap and cut the 2008 pricing that they had already published last November – the common option being to either stick with what they had already done (frozen or cut prices) or to sweeten the pot with “added value” options such as instant rebates, dollars to spend on their accessories or lower financing options.
Let’s take a quick look at how each company compares …
The Europeans seem to vary on their approach. BMW took to slashing prices to get to around 17% of the U.S. MSRPs, whereas the others went for more moderate cuts of less than 10%. In our sample, KTM did best with an average of 14% difference, BMW and Triumph are almost neck and neck at 17% and 18% respectively and lagging behind is Ducati with an inexplicable 24%.
The North American, or more specifically Harley and Buell have done the best of all when it comes to keeping Canadian prices close to U.S. ones with our sample giving Buell the best mark with an 8% difference and Harley not far behind at 11%. Sadly, Canada’s own Bombardier Recreational Products has a bigger 13.5% difference.
And finally, looking at the big four Japanese brands shows a surprisingly large gap appearing, with a sample range of 22% to 37% (after cash rebates). Interestingly, they’ve all resisted across the board price cuts (with the exception of their cruisers – and what does that tell us?), instead relying on incentive packages, with both Kawasaki and Yamaha getting good effect by offering cash rebates (albeit for a limited time).
Honda take the lead with the 37% difference, though this is a bit of bad luck for them with how our sample bikes turned out, as well as taking a big hit as they have yet to announce their promised incentive package. To keep in line with the competition, we’d expect this to include some cash rebates of $1000 to $2000.
Suzuki and Yamaha come in at a 24% difference (post any cash rebates), with Suzuki opting to hold fast on their flagship sportbike (like the others), introduce their new models competitively priced (B-King is +16%) and then slash prices on their big cruiser.
Yamaha opts to keep list prices pretty much static (save for some cuts to their V-Star line), instead bringing down the margin by offering hefty cash rebates (though we think they may want to follow Kawasaki’s lead and extend them from the end of March to the end of May).
And finally, Kawasaki come out tops (but still with a large 22% sample difference), thanks to an aggressive ’08 pricing (the ZX10R is the cheapest sportbike of the lot) and some hefty rebates elsewhere. Oh, and their other pricing incentives are pretty good too.
However, 22% to 37% still seems to be a sufficient gap to tempt people to shop south, the only other barrier that we can see being the need to arrange your own financing (with lower options being offered up by Kawasaki and Yamaha to boot).
FINAL WORDS
The question is, how close to the U.S. pricing do the Canadians need to be in order to at least stem the flow of buyers heading south?
Although the importation process is relatively straightforward, we figured that around a +15% difference would be sufficient to keep most people this side of the border (and don’t forget financing and potential warranty issues – especially with the Japanese).
That would mean that most of the Europeans are safe (save for Ducati perhaps), and the North Americans too, but the Japanese must still be vulnerable – especially with their sportbike lines.
The bottom line is, are you planning on buying a new bike this year, and if so, how much of a premium are you willing to pay to keep your dollars this side of the border? The industry holds its collective breath.
The Canadian dollar has increased very little. I believe we should be enjoying a 5 to 10% price decrease from previous years.
The American dollar has devalued significantly over the last couple of years and their prices should be going up. Except manufacturers need to compete against Harley for rich American’s money, and not price themselves out of business on their core less wealthy bunch. Considering the US, consumers and government alike, are in depth over their heads, artificially low US prices will be around for a while.
Quote:
“Here is the response from a US dealer when I contacted them about buying a Triumph.
“Thank you for your information requests. Unfortunately Triumph will not
allow us, as a U.S. dealer to sell to Canadian residents. They are no
longer providing the necessary documentation to take the bike across the
border.” ”
Please call Triumph of Buffalo (Buck’s Motorsports)716-542-5855
As I had not problem getting the bike and the paperwork for my 08Daytona 675
:grin
Bought a Honda Ridgeline in Montana. Saved over $10000.00 over the best price I could get in Cananda! The car dealers are having to say “NO” to canadians, I bet the motorcycle dealers will be forced to do the same very soon. If you want a cheaper motorcycle, now is the time! BTW, importing couldn’t be easier. Everyone involved was very helpful.
Some people here want to avoid state sales tax by purchasing in a state without sales tax. However, you’ll be required to pay the GST and PST (if applicable) when importing the bike. In fact the GST will be charged even on a used bike. I know this as I purchased a used bike in Seattle a few months ago. I wasn’t charged Washington sales tax, however.
More importantly, I was told a few days ago by a U.S. dealer that unless I had a U.S. residence or a U.S. friend/relative willing to ‘loan’ their address for my purposes that warranty would not apply – and they genuinely wanted to sell to me.
Thanks for the head’s up CMG! And thanks to the reader RET re; New Hampshire. I’m 58 and have always owned Japanese cars and bikes. My Mazda is 8 years old and needs replacing soon. I’m not so sure I’m going to buy a bike now and my next car…..! I will be approaching this in a way I never have before. First, I will be shopping on the web and second, I will shop with an anti Japanese bias – something I’ve never experienced before. And like another reader, I am going to look a lot more closely at Harley and BMW.
This is getting personal.
If any one is interested in importing see following forum link for instructions and help.
http://bcsportbikes.com/forum/showthread.php?s=d2d220775ccfc3714b0de9900ac2e5fb&t=85230
Look guys, yes, pricing in other parts of the world is relavent, if the question is “why are prices in Canada so much higher than the US?” Our prices didn’t go up (recently, anyway), nor US prices down, its just their currency which has dropped like a rock. A couple of years ago many bikes were a better deal in Canada than the US.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t go the US to buy your new bike, assuming they’ll sell it to you. You’d be crazy to pass up savings or $3,000 to $7,000 if you can get them.
Personally, I’m more pissed off at the pricing of cars that are built in the US or Canada.
I had the same problem and decided not to buy a Street Triple here either. Motorcycling is just for fun so if a company has rules that seem unfair I will avoid their product, as there are lots of cool choices out there from other fairer companies i.e. Harley or BMW.
My understanding is companies have employees that read blogs to get a sense of what the people are saying about their products so I wonder if any of them are reading this stream of comments and will react positively in hopes of achieving the sales increase Harley has recently gotten from their fairer pricing policy?
RET
Here is the response from a US dealer when I contacted them about buying a Triumph.
“Thank you for your information requests. Unfortunately Triumph will not
allow us, as a U.S. dealer to sell to Canadian residents. They are no
longer providing the necessary documentation to take the bike across the
border.”
Not only are they keeping their prices high, the are preventing the legal import of bikes from the US.
I was going to buy a new Honda this year.
But no, forget it.
There are deals to be had. I just bought an ’08 Ninja 250 for $4400 OTD, but it took someone organizing a group buy and shopping around to just about every dealer in Ontario. For reference, in the US the average price for the new 250 seems to be around $4200 (According to an informal survey on ninja250.org). List price in Canada is $4249, US is $3499.
I have a few comments;
1) 10% difference in price can be explained in different operating cost in Canada vs US, ie wages, rent/mortgage, taxes, and is therefore acceptable.
2) Harley Davidson has posted a 45.9% increase in CDN sales in last quarter (might have something to do with lower prices).
3) The percentages in the article are by no means the worst, ie Honda Rebel $4,999 in Canada $3,199 in US 56% :eek more expensive, Triumph Speedmaster $10,599 in Canada $8,299 in US or 28% more expensive.
To some extent we can blame the dealers. They need to stand up to the companies and not ask for, but demand to have better more equitable pricing. I can only imagine what would happen if they got organized and put some pressure on the big 4. After all how long would the big 4 keep prices up if they had a united don’t buy policy from the Canadian dealers association.
While comparing the cost of a bike in Canada to many others countries, other then the U.S., is interesting it is not relevant. We do not have readily available bikes from the UK or Spain?but we do from the U.S. The motorcycle dealers here in Ontario are not threatened by countries other then the U.S. I am going to seek out a bike from a state that does not charge state tax [New Hampshire] and am making getting the bike part of my vacation this summer. If I have a catastrophic failure I will drive the 1.5 hour to a NY state dealer to fix the bike under warranty.
RET
Yes, that’s about it.
From what I hear, everyone is waiting for the U.S. pricing to go up, but with the state of the economy down there I can’t see that happening in the immediate future.
Perhaps the US motorcycle market needs to collapse first before any price hikes can be implemented?
V-Strom
No we aren’t geting hosed when you look at pricing in the rest of the world. Take a Honda 2008 CBR1000RR as a example. About $15,500 here
US $11599 dollars = $11,815CDN
UK $8999 Pounds = $18,202CDN
Japan 1,239,000yen = $12,526CDN
Spain 14,799 euro = $23,245CDN
Italy 13,900 euro = $21,833CDN
Are prices in Canada overly high by world standards ? No
Are Prices in the US artificially low? Yes.
But the fact remains that for about $375 and a bit of work you can buy in the US and save thousands. Most Canadians do not look at prices elsewhere in the world,, they look at the US.
Now for the somewhat dissenting voice:
How much has the Canadian dollar actually changed in value against the Euro or Yen over the last year or two? Are we really getting hosed on the pricing, or are Americans just getting a really good deal (in Euros or Yen) now that their currency has dropped so much in value? Since, other than Harleys and Buells, most of the bikes we buy come from Europe or Japan, those are the really relevant currencies to compare our dollar to. One does wonder, though, why there haven’t been significant price increases on imported bikes in the US.
I can buy a Ducati Desmosedici for $75,000 from my local dealer. Same price as in the US.
That’s what I call equality.
If you think the difference is big in the new-bike market, the used bike market will make you blow your top! I bought a slighly used, 2 year-old KTM 950 Adv. last year for a little less than 2/3 of the local canadian “OTD” (and that was before the dollar got to parity). Importing was pretty straightforward, and the cash I saved bought me a bunch of goodies and gear. If you can handle a bit of paperwork, process/bureaucracy, it’s well worth the import hassle.
I’ve now bought a car and a motorcycle in the US. (I saved over $20,000 on a New Nissan 350Z)
I’m really looking forward to this riding season on my new Kawasaki Concours 14 purchased in New Hampshire for $11,499 US, My local dealer is a great guy but his cost was more than $4500 more than I paid. A local Ford dealer is now selling Big 4 Dirtbikes at about 25% less than the dealers.
It’s the dealers I feel sorry for. Mostly the Mom & Pop Honda dealers that are having their dealer agreements cancelled. No More Hondas for Me.
Honda Canada had NO rebates on 2008 Models, To say they have rebates on the 2007 Models is a joke,, There are only a few 2007 models still in dealerships. In my garage there are currently 3 Honda Motorcycles, 2 Honda ATVs, 2 Honda Cars, A Honda generator, a Honda Snowblower and a Honda Lawnmower…. I have also had 12 other Honda cars over the years and many Motorcycles.. I would say I’ve been a very loyal customer. My Wife car is due to be replaced, It will be bought in the US and it will NOT be a Honda. Their Treatment and Gouging of Canadian Consumers is Unacceptable to me.
Even a 15% percent differential is far too much for us to cough up because we still have to add the GST to our purchase price making it more like 20%. In the states the federal sales tax (their version of the GST) is already included in their MSLP. Our dollar has been steadily gaining ground on the American dollar for years but we have been charged by the imports year in and year out as if it were still worth about 70 cents US. The Canadian motorcycle consumer has been cheated on the MSLP for so long by the imports that it seems to have become a permanent policy just for our market.
I won’t buy another bike here unless we are close to 15% diff. I can see paying a little more due to volume being smaller here compared to US. I’ve got >70,000km on my 2-year old V-Strom and will buy BMW next unless price gap reduces significantly. 🙁
Re:Honda rebates
Any one looking for a $3000 rebate on a 08 cbr1000rr will just have to be patient and wait.2010 isn’t that far off.
Thanks for the clarification, Rob, even though the 2007 vs. 2008 price comparison in the article was pretty clear. It was Honda’s response that I found misleading, and couldn’t help wonder whether it was a deliberate attempt to confuse your readers by falsely accusing CMG of inaccuracy, or a disingenuous PR tactic to show that they are doing more than they actually are to address the price disparity. In any case, it smacked of corporate arrogance. I guess it’s a good thing that they will soon have Honda exclusive dealers, making it easier to avoid their brand.
I read the comment about it being the manufacturers and importers and not the dealers, no I cannot agree to that, it is up to the dealer to get the best price possible and pass on any savings to the consumer, I have not seen that happen in the majority of the cases, especially as it affects the japanese makes. No, I still say it is the unwillingness of the dealers to make less profit, we call it gouging the customer, and the consequences are the customer goes elsewhere, in this case the US.
There is no excuse for any dollar difference at all when our dollar is at par! We are being shafted by the Dearlers and the companies that they represent, period!!! I can’t believe some of you are saying that a price difference from 10% to 15% is exceptible. Its sad to say but as long as there are people willing to pay that difference we will NEVER see equal pricing.
Being within 1 1/2 hours of Buffalo dealers, and Canadian dealers not only refusing to meet or be reasonable about prices, I regularly visit a Euro dealer in US for parts. Cheaper by far, but more importantly, service, they will get the part faster and are happy to do so. Can. dealer has told me some parts were not available when I’ve got them within a week in US. I would still prefer to support Can. dealer, but on a new bike at approx. $15,000, 10% difference would be my max.
The comments made previously by Honda Canada are so ignorant and irrelevant. To quote incentives on 2007 models has no bearing on this discussion.
I just bought a 2008 Suzuki C90SE was able to get $ 3000 off list. The best I could do in these times. That was rolling all the rebates in as well from Suzuki. List in Canada $14.400 and in the US $ 11.500.
[quote]Just to clarify Honda’s position. The comment that Honda have shown reluctance to dropping 2007 prices, only discounting cruisers with a couple of hundred is inaccurate. [/quote]
Just to clarify this comment, it’s in reference to any changes from the 2007 sticker price to the 2008 sticker price, not whether any discounts were applied to the 07 pricing. Apologies for any confusion.
BTW, thanks for wading in on this discussion ? it’s always good to have the industry getting involved in active discussion on matters such as this.
I am waiting to see how many of the dealers in Canada will start whining about lack of sales come spring, which is just around the corner, incentives for accessories that are way overpriced to begin with doesn’t really do it for me. Canadian dealers need to wake up and start being realistic, if I can save $2000 over Canadian prices by going down south, then that is where I will go.
interesting, but i’d say the difference has got to be under $1000 to stop me from shopping south, and preferably closer to $500. the percentage doesn’t work in my book, since on a $15,000 bike or $35,000 car, that’s a lot of actual dollars ($2k to $5k and more, going by the 15% suggestion). that $2k can easily pay for a truck rental if buying a bike, or one-way flight if buying a car, with most of it still in my pocket for other spending. much of the blame is on the Canadian offices, who – wanting high incomes & salaries – have to bump up profits to offset our high income tax rates.
Just a reminder that the real villians in this scenario are (greedy) manufacturers and importers, not your local dealer. The price your dealer pays to the manufacturer/importer for the bikes on his showroom floor remains essentially the same as it was in the 70-cent-dollar days, while at the same time, mnufacturers’ and importers’ costs have plummeted by as much as 40% due to our newly-inflated currency. Your local dealer is caught in the middle, his margins dwindling as he tries to compete with US prices while both you and he underwrite huge returns made by the manufacturers and importers
I never thought I’d see the day where I’d be buying a Harley, but I guess that day has dawned.
I think its actually disgusting prices have not been adjusted. The price of a 848 is the same as a 1098, NO EXCUSE WHAT SO EVER. My KTM Superduke cost me about $20,000 on the road, my fellow Americas are getting them on the road for around $13,000. It will just take one manufacturer to make a big change and the others will follow just like the Car Industry. VW just adjusted their prices only because Toyota did. Canadians have to stop buying from Canadian dealers so they smarten up period!
I’m voting with my wallet, as any sensible consumer must. If I buy a new bike this year – other than a BMW – I’ll shop south of the border.
With Honda Canada trying to establish the Honda only super stores maybe it is doing little to correct the market so the mom and pop Honda shops go under and then they can set up new Honda only mega shops like BMW did a decade ago.
RET
What a great analysis! It really shows that Harley Davidson and Buell are able to react more quickly than others. I think that offering incentives on over-priced leftovers is great but does not make up for the current price differences. I did buy a left-over this year but not from Honda. Yes, I bought it in Canada (the hassle of importing, etc. didn’t fit within my comfort level) but not in my home town. I had to travel quite far to get the model I wanted. If I was closer to the States, maybe that would have worked for me. Maybe the manufacturers should treat North America as one market?
I think the incetives such as low financing rates do not provide any real value/savings since you still have to factor in the cost of full coverage. I’m looking at a new F800GS but even with a clean driving history the insurance reguired by BMW Canada is still north of $2300/year for full coverage. I’d be curious as to how many people actually finance bikes with insurance requirements/costs as they are.
Regardless of any excuses or claims of incentives. Charging Canadians 30% more for the same product that came in on the same boat, and likely had to travel less distance to 90% of the dealers in canada is outright robbery. Not only am I not buying a new bike, I doubt I will buy one for several years. I always did like italian bikes too, maybe it’s time for a change.
Rebates and incentives that are not applicable if the bike [or car] purchase is financed are not helpful to the people who most need the more equitable lower pricing. The determination of whether the manufacturers have done enough will be shown by what and when customers buy.
RET
Just to clarify Honda’s position. The comment that Honda have shown reluctance to dropping 2007 prices, only discounting cruisers with a couple of hundred is inaccurate. In fact Honda has perhaps the most aggressive incentives on almost every model in its 2007 line-up and these have been in place for months. eg The 2007 CBR1000 has $3000, 2007 VFR800 & CBR600 both have $1800 rebates. BTW substantial auto rebates are also in effect.
I am waiting until the prices get more in line with the U.S. and if not by the end of summer I have investigated importing and will do that. I feel badly for the dealers as their pricing is set by their wholesale costs and many must be hurting. BMW and Harley have really dropped their pricing so I hope they sales do well so that other companies follow their lead.
RET
10-15% would be accceptable to me. Anything more and I’m either going to the US or not buying. So No new honda for me. And in fact I”ll be extending that to our new car as Honda has a big difference there as well.