NOW
IN OUR
™
27 EA th
R
Y
T H E L E A D I N G B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L C U S T O M M O T O R C Y C L E A N D PA RT S I N D U S T RY
Harley Pimps Modest Domestic
Market Share Increase in
Response to a Down First Quarter
arley-Davidson is
adamant that its 1Q
2019 performance
was "better than
expected," stating that
"company actions resulted in
earnings per share and retail
sales finishing stronger than
expected during the [first]
quarter" and that "the
company's 'More Roads to
Harley-Davidson' accelerated
plan for growth continued to
progress and deliver results."
In a quarter that saw them announce
the acquisition of kids E-bike maker
'StaCyc', add a President for the
Harley-Davidson brand to the senior
management team, and "broaden
reach" with the $19k Electra Glide
Standard, the company kept
shareholders placated with diluted
EPS of $0.80 per share that was
"ahead of company expectations"
(cash dividend for the quarter is up to
$0.375 from $0.37 in the year-ago
quarter - a +1.4% dividend increase),
the repurchase of $52.6 million of
shares and with domestic U.S. retail
H
motorcycle sales "only" down by -
4.16% (38,797 units) in a 601cc+
domestic U.S. market that was down
by -4.74% (for a modestly increased
51.1% market share).
Harley-Davidson worldwide retail
sales decreased -3.8%; international
retail sales were down -3.3%. The
drop in domestic U.S. retail sales was
said to be "driven by continued weak
agility and
discipline
industry sales."
Matt Levatich, President and Chief
Executive Officer, Harley-Davidson, Inc
said that "we are acting with agility
and discipline to take full advantage of
rapidly evolving global markets.
Harley-Davidson's U.S. market share
growth and retail sales performance in
the first quarter are further evidence of
the effects we are having as we
continue to implement and dial-in our
More Roads efforts.
"In the short eight months since we
announced our More Roads plan, we
continue to accelerate our progress to
build the next generation of Harley-
Davidson riders," said Levatich.
"During the first quarter we intensified
our march by investing in our future
and adding capabilities that we're
confident will inspire riders today and
for generations to come."
The company says that it "increased its
reach and impact in the first quarter"
and that 278,000 "new riders" joined
Harley-Davidson in 2018 in the U.S.
"This group is the most diverse across
age, ethnicity and gender in all of the
years Harley-Davidson has tracked this
data, expanded access to new
customers in part with the launch of
the new Electra Glide Standard,
increased marketing support, reaching
more consumers sooner and driving
action such as increased traffic to
H-D.com, brand awareness, trial and
sales," with media spend up by nearly
+90%.
Continues on page 6 >>>
Gallery Motorcycles won Best in Show at the 33rd Biker Fest at Lignano Sabbiadoro, Udine, Italy, with
'Deeva', based around a 1920 Harley-Davidson JD engine, custom frame and glass oil tank - pages 32-33
JUNE 2019
ISSUE #239
MIKE
KENNEDY
PRESIDENT
8% OF U.S.
HOUSEHOLDS