What's going on with Honda ???

[Quad18star]

Well a few months ago , I got news that are only Honda dealer here in town will be closing it's doors. These guys have been in business for over 35 years and have been selling Honda , Polaris and Harley Davidson line ups. These guys are the largest dealership in Northern Ontario and service a large area.

So last week I went into the shop and talked with one of the owners that I know quite well and asked him what the heck was going on ... why was he dropping the Honda line of products. He reaches into his desk and hands me a letter that Honda sent out to all it's dealerships in Canada.

In the letter it said that Honda wants ALL it's dealership to be stand alone dealers and not carry any other brands in it's store . It also wants ALL it's dealerships to redesign their stores to a layout that conforms to Honda standards ( which will cost hundreds of thousands) . They also want all their dealers to carry a minimum of $1 million in inventory regardless of the amount of sales generated in a year.

Now I don't know if this is directed only towards dealerships in Canada , or if it's to dealers all across North America .

Blackfoot Motorsports , the largest Honda dealership in Canada , and one of the largest in North America , is dropping the Honda line up also . :huh These guys have been selling Honda stuff , since the chit was designed .

Anyone know if this is just going on up here , or has Honda given it's dealers in the USA the same letter ?? I'm curious to find out , because it seems Honda is shooting themselves in the foot with this one .

[mineralgrey01gt]

Im wondering about this also, because about 3 years ago they just started selling Honda's and Yamaha's at the same place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

[Raptor68]

It's happening all over the US too. Honda wants their dealers to carry only Honda products. They want these stores to carry all Honda products including dirtbikes, ATVs, motorcycles, watercraft, generators, etc. And you are right, they want these dealerships to all have the same basic look to them. I have been in a couple of these stand-alone dealerships, and they are impressive, but it sucks for the small-town, small-volume dealers that can't afford to do this.

[GlowBoy]

Thats so retarded, you think for staying business with them they would cut them a break.

[Rip_Tear]

I haven't heard anything about our dealership yet, it's Honda and Can-am(etc). But Honda doesn't make boats, or sleds, or pwc so I don't know... but if they get a letter I'm sure they'd drop Honda over Can-am...

[ridered11]

Honda does make pwc, along with outboard motors

there is an all honda dealer right by me in crofton, it looks really nice but the people there are complete morons. it takes them 30 min to look up and find the dumbest parts

[440bigborekit]

yea i also herd that hondas going to make all there bikes exhausts sound like deeee deee deeeee deeeeee tooo lol wat a bunch of idiotss

[Tommy 17]

honda is also pulling all of their street bike and crotch rocket sales from the dealerships and givin them to the car dealerships...

[ZeroLogic]

Honda is dumb.:o

[Dupontster]

Not to get off topic or start anything but its about time for Honda to step up a notch like Kawasaki and Suzuki.IMO

[gncc025]

Wow that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen for honda. i bet their sales will plummet up there in canada, those smaller dealerships have no way of conforming to those standards that honda demands.

here in ms i have heard nothing about it. one of the the top honda dealers in the us is 25 or 30 miles from me and they are still going strong. cheapest prices ive ever seen off of the showroom floor to date http://www.lakehillmotors.com/

[TRX450RACER174]

Originally posted by Tommy 17
honda is also pulling all of their street bike and crotch rocket sales from the dealerships and givin them to the car dealerships...

Where did you hear this? Auto dealers and motorcycle dealers are two totally different places, Honda just doesn't give them to dealers they have to buy into it just like every other motorcycle dealer. Get the facts strait before posting.

[400exrider989]

you talkin about the blackfoot motorsports in ontario or here in alberta?
i have heard nothing of this and have seen no results in the dealerships in calgary

[Alberta_Qaudin]

i havent heard of this yet, i know here in edmonton, scona cycle and honda extreem are both honda only, but riverside caries sizuki, yamaha, honda, and bombardier, and possibly polaris 2 i cant remember, but either way for any dealer who carries more than just honda of course you would drop them. especially if you have more than 2 other makes. why spend money to keep their product, when you can spend nothing and keep making money with your other product, and even pick up another make to compensate

[sunco]

Harley Davidson did this already - Your building has x amount of SF & .........

[Quad18star]

Originally posted by 400exrider989
you talkin about the blackfoot motorsports in ontario or here in alberta?
i have heard nothing of this and have seen no results in the dealerships in calgary

Blackfoot in Alberta.

They have a year to meet Honda's demands or they lose the rights to sell Honda products.

Our local shop , conveniently called The Shop , told Honda to stick it. They also dropped Polaris , because the sled sales are next to dead. Sleds have come too technologically advanced and last longer , that people are holding onto their sleds for years instead of changing every year ... plus the winters are getting shorter. Pretty sad considering The Shop led Polaris in snowmobile sales in all of North America for over a decade. :ermm:

Now their only going to carry the Harley line up , and sales have never been better. He told me this year he got 113 units .... all he had left are 3. For 2008 Harley is giving him 175 units ... 110 already have deposits put down on them . :eek2:

So now , our community of 165 000 and that serves probably 500 000 area wise , no longer has a Honda dealership ... and NO ONE has stepped up to the plate to open one up either . Frightening for Honda owners and for the Honda Corp. :ermm:

[JOEX]

Originally posted by Quad18star

So now , our community of 165 000 and that serves probably 500 000 area wise , no longer has a Honda dealership ... and NO ONE has stepped up to the plate to open one up either . Frightening for Honda owners and for the Honda Corp. :ermm:
I'm sure Honda has 'a plan'. I doubt corperations like Honda jump into major changes like this without a plan B, C or D in the works....

Who benefits will be determined when the dust settles...

[Quad18star]

Originally posted by JOEX
I'm sure Honda has 'a plan'. I doubt corperations like Honda jump into major changes like this without a plan B, C or D in the works....

Who benefits will be determined when the dust settles...

I know Honda approached the local Honda car dealership because they just revamped their dealership to meet Honda's demands last year .... the owner of the car dealership said he didn't want anything to do with it .

I know the guys that own the local Yamaha dealership and guys that manage the local BRP/Can-Am dealership ... and rumor has itbetween the dealerships , that it will cost anywhere between $4 million to $5 million to buy the dealership. That includes the cost of the building which they want to be "X" amount of square footage and layed out to their design specs, the "X" amount of units carried on-site and atleast $1 million in overhead for parts available on-site. That's if the dealership starts from square one.

[JOEX]

Originally posted by Quad18star
I know Honda approached the local Honda car dealership because they just revamped their dealership to meet Honda's demands last year .... the owner of the car dealership said he didn't want anything to do with it .

I know the guys that own the local Yamaha dealership and guys that manage the local BRP/Can-Am dealership ... and rumor has itbetween the dealerships , that it will cost anywhere between $4 million to $5 million to buy the dealership. That includes the cost of the building which they want to be "X" amount of square footage and layed out to their design specs, the "X" amount of units carried on-site and atleast $1 million in overhead for parts available on-site. That's if the dealership starts from square one.
Honda has a reputation of building quality equipment and has a loyal following so I wouldn't be surprised if there's a lilst of people willing to invest in Honda only dealerships. There may not be any locals wanting to buy in but world wide i'm sure there are many...

[400exrider989]

part of the reason is probably because you walk into the store and they have a honda rancher with no diff lock and not big cc and then beside it is a grizz 700 with power steering efi and diff lock and bigger cc well its obviouse of what you well most likely pick you know what i mean.