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As Lee Iacocca once said, "lead, follow or get out of the way". We don't know what management was thinking at Athearn before P2K and Bachman Spectrum hit the scene. The P2K (& P1K) got a good foot hold in the market by the time the Genesis line was introduced. Antonio mentioned GM's failure to compete against Japanese automakers in the 80's. Look at automobile manufacturers today. Offering mostly high proformance, low fuel milage vehicles when gasoline is costing more per gallon as it ever was. But, unlike in the 80's, people still keep buying them. So what has changed? What did they learn from their marketing analysis? People will buy what they want regardless of cost or what they can actually afford. Now that Athearn is a division of Horizon Hobbies all we can do is see what happens. So far it seems, by Horizon's actions, that the blue box and MDC Roundhouse kits are on the back burner and they're concentrating on new high end products and R-T-R models. Athearn not long ago added a N scale line and make some O scale stuff. That had to be a big investment. We don't know about their marketing plans for the future or how they interpet market research. We do know that they will only sell to brick & mortar stores, which will eliminate the demand for their products by people who sell at a discount. Could that lead to higher prices or discontinuation of a line that has fallen sales levels? Yea, Athearn was the best bargin and a leader in HO scale trains, but now they have to work hard just to keep up with P2K and Broadway Limited. As long as $250 and up DCC and sound equiped locos are selling off the shelf faster than L.L. & B.L.I. can make them, Athearn will have to spend more of their resources on just keeping up.
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