MAR 2017
NOW IN OUR 25th
YEAR
™
T H E # 1 B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E A M E R I C A N V- T W I N A N D C U S T O M M O T O R C Y C L E PA RT S I N D U S T RY
Harley plans 50 new models in next five years ; U . S market share + 2 % in Q4 , record 10.8 % in Europe
The release of Harley ’ s 2016 fiscals at the end of January showed Harley as having gained market share in 2016 in the United States as domestic motorcycle sales have continued to soften . For the full-year 2016 , worldwide Harley- Davidson retail motorcycle sales were down -1.6 percent compared to 2015 ; with U . S . retail sales down -3.9 percent , partially offset by international growth of 2.3 percent . CFO and Sr . VP John Olin has warned investors that Harley doesn ’ t expect 2017 unit sales to be anything better than “ flat to modestly soft ” and that the first quarter of 2017 could be down between -15 percent to -20 percent in terms of new unit shipments to dealers worldwide as the company continues to try and help unwind an over-inventory situation that saw Harley “ exit quarters 3 and 4 of 2016 with historically high levels of carryover products . “ We intend to get them flushed out by the end of the first quarter of 2017 , and we expect to be in-line with historical levels of ( current vs prior MY unit ) mix by then .” CEO Matt Levatich said that “ there ’ s no question that 2016 was a difficult year with the decline in domestic U . S . motorcycle sales overall becoming volatile from May through October in particular ” – the speculation being that this was caused by election uncertainty .
‘ in the business of building new riders ’
Harley says that this resulted in MY 2017 availability needing to be lower than “ the year prior ” and that they are making sure that it continues to be lower this first quarter “ as we continue to constrain MY 2017 shipments .” That decline saw Harley domestic retail sales at -3.9 percent for 2016 at 161,700 units compared to 168,200 in 2015 , but with 4th quarter retail sales essentially flat versus the final quarter of 2016 ( actually + 0.1 percent ) at 26,100 units . In the midst of the reduced sales , Harley ’ s market share in the 601cc + sector in which it competes actually grew by + 1 percent in 2016 as a whole to a 51.2 percent market share , and by + 2 percent in the final quarter to 53.4 percent . Levatich said that he “ couldn ’ t be more pleased with our market share performance , especially in the fourth quarter ,” but that Harley-Davidson ( and by implication everybody in the motorcycle industry ) had to come to terms with what he described as a “ new normal ” in terms of short to medium-term domestic industry expectations . In which connection , the previously announced increase in rider training focus and investment has seen Harley ’ s dealers train some 65,000 new entrants to the sport ; though there are questions to be answered over retention – how many of those trained are going on to buy Harley branded motorcycles - the company
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CLASS OF 2017
MAR 2017
ISSUE # 212
LATEST HAVOC AND WILD WEST COLLABORATION
BLACK BRAND APPAREL
CHICAGO J & P CYCLES UBCBS FINALE
Photo : Tim Hailey
This year ' s V-Twin Expo , the 18th of its name , saw a modest improvement in attendance and business done according to most of the vendors AMD Magazine spoke with - see our news report page 20 - 33