Wednesday, February 9, 2011

What is the Australian dollar doing?

Buying a Harley Davidson in Australia Vs direct from USA?

An important factor is the purchase price here in Australia v's USA.  So the exchange rate for US dollars to Australian dollars makes a significant difference. 

On one of my many recent trips to Melbourne I decided to fill in time visiting motorcycle stores.  Harley Heaven just off Elizabeth Street was on the list.  Walked amongst all the big ticket bikes on display and it does not take Einstein to work out that the prices being asked are double that being asked in US dollars. 

Not sure that I like the big cumbersome bikes with fairings so a basic 'naked' softail for me.  Somehow I always manage to work my way back to a FLSTN.  Don't know what that is - ok it is a softail called 'Nostalgia' or sometimes just 'Deluxe'.

The ticket is asking $33,500 Ride Away.

Why haven't the retail prices come down as the exchange rate for the Australian dollar goes up?  The importer must be paying less and why isn't that being passed on to the customer?  The AUD and the USD are at parity or close to parity most of the time these days.




Now I don't have enough money to be worried about exchange rates for currencies but if I am going to buy a big ticket item such as a motorbike then there is a chance I can save serious dollars.

Around Christmas 2010 the AUD was high against the USD - almost $1.02  A good time to buy in USA.

Time to check the Internet for deals in USA.  Harley Davidson motorcycles generally sell for half of what is being asked in Australia.

No comments:

Post a Comment