Harley-Davidson sales slump as U.S. motorcycle business falters

Drs · 2018-07-24T20:30:48.764Z

BBC News

Harley-Davidson warns Trump-EU trade war will harm business

The US motorcycle maker says recent trade tariffs will see profit margins fall to half last year's.

They are still selling but tariffs are driving up prices and eating into profits.

Orygun · 2018-07-24T20:38:30.113Z

Drs:

They are still selling but tariffs are driving up prices and eating into profits.

They need Trump Bucks! WHY WONT HE GIVE THEM BAILOUT MONEY??

Axxowiz · 2018-07-24T20:44:42.309Z

Yes this has been a trend for quiet sometime. Not to ditch Harley’s because I know a lot of people like them in most cases love them. But their bikes are so outdated to compared to Japanese bikes, and they seemed to have gotten away with that for the longest time because people buying them for the name and looks.

Axxowiz · 2018-07-24T20:46:13.442Z

I doubt it they just had a stock market earnings beat and the shares went up 8% in one day.

Orygun · 2018-07-24T20:55:22.171Z

Axxowiz:

I doubt it they just had a stock market earnings beat and the shares went up 8% in one day.

I dunno- they say they have lost about 150 million due to the tariffs. Maybe at least Trump could give them some cool hats?

USA TODAY

Harley-Davidson puts tariff loss at $150 million as sales slump

Harley-Davidson’s U.S. motorcycle sales fell in the company’s recent fiscal quarter as the company reported a 6.4 percent drop in profit and said a strategy announcement is coming. The report came as Harley is reeling from the European Union's...

Drs · 2018-07-24T21:05:26.704Z

Yes the have a plan to not continue getting their profits eaten up by the tariffs. You lay out a good plan and it builds investors confidence so more people buy.

CaughtInTheMiddle · 2018-07-24T21:27:28.999Z

Orygun:

Axxowiz:

I doubt it they just had a stock market earnings beat and the shares went up 8% in one day.

I dunno- they say they have lost about 150 million due to the tariffs. Maybe at least Trump could give them some cool hats?

Harley-Davidson profit falls as U.S. motorcycle sales slump

or throw them some paper towels.

Smyrna · 2018-07-24T21:34:41.399Z

When a business enters the circle of politics, you’ve divided your market in half.

DOLOOP · 2018-07-24T22:20:27.452Z

calirepub:

Oryx:

Yes, my family and I are hoping that if we can defeat Trump, Jihadists in masks will soon descend upon our neighborhood and start beheading people before implementing strict Sharia law. Isn’t that the fondest hope of all liberal Jews like us?

What is dead may never die.

Response: What is dead may never die.

daha · 2018-07-24T22:22:14.633Z

Smyrna:

When a business enters the circle of politics, you’ve divided your market in half.

So you feel strongly that a company should just bend over and take significant financial damages to support your political agenda instead of working to limit damages/maximize profits (which is what any company should be doing and doesn’t have a single damned thing to do with their politics)?

One might also add, there is precisely 0 indication in the article that their sales slump (which has been happening for better than a year) has anything at all to do with politics. If you had actually read the article, the slump is being attributed to older riders aging out of the market, and younger riders not purchasing this type of bike. Again, not politics - unless you think (which on this board is not entirely impossible) that natural aging is a political statement?

It is entirely possible that politics will affect HD’s business down the road of course, but at this point that isn’t a relevant factor (and it still has nothing to do with HD being political - they made a simple business decision).

GWH · 2018-07-24T22:31:50.969Z

Indian motorcycles are on the rise. Harley needs to up their game.

wonderingrover · 2018-07-24T22:34:42.827Z

Joanne:

I’m sure those Make Harley Davidson Great Again hats will be rolling out soon, once they are done with the Make Farmers Great Again hats.

What color will the HD ones be?

They can go with red hats. Pretty soon, it will reflect the reality of the “net income” line of their income statement.

Orygun · 2018-07-24T22:38:13.096Z

wonderingrover:

They can go with red hats. Pretty soon, it will reflect the reality of the “net income” line of their income statement.

Ba da bing!

Seriously though- the CEO should never have shivved the Capo…I mean president…No TRUMP BUCKS for Harley.

calirepub · 2018-07-24T23:17:57.786Z

DOLOOP:

What is dead may never die.

Response: What is dead may never die.

Response should be: But rises again harder and stronger.

Smyrna · 2018-07-24T23:28:05.669Z

daha:

So you feel strongly that a company should just bend over and take significant financial damages to support your political agenda instead of working to limit damages/maximize profits (which is what any company should be doing and doesn’t have a single damned thing to do with their politics)?

One might also add, there is precisely 0 indication in the article that their sales slump (which has been happening for better than a year) has anything at all to do with politics. If you had actually read the article, the slump is being attributed to older riders aging out of the market, and younger riders not purchasing this type of bike. Again, not politics - unless you think (which on this board is not entirely impossible) that natural aging is a political statement?

It is entirely possible that politics will affect HD’s business down the road of course, but at this point that isn’t a relevant factor (and it still has nothing to do with HD being political - they made a simple business decision).

Thank you for such a thoughtful post. I may have spoken too vaguely in that I disagreed with Trump’s criticism of Harley’s business decision to manufacture motorcycles outside of the country and said so here on this board. My post was more in general. It’s a rule in business that you don’t bring politics or religion into it because you divide your market. In this case, Harley made the decision based on market/global/tariff conditions and decided to manufacture outside the country. Then Trump entered into it and made it political…hence my original post.

TheRedComet · 2018-07-24T23:38:29.207Z

Indian, while great, isn’t their main threat. The threat is what it’s always been. The Japanese big four. Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki.

DOLOOP · 2018-07-24T23:38:51.373Z

calirepub:

DOLOOP:

What is dead may never die.

Response: What is dead may never die.

Response should be: But rises again harder and stronger.

You’re right. Oh, man. I thought I had better GoT chops than that.

daha · 2018-07-24T23:39:54.120Z

Ahh I misinterpreted your OP

GWH · 2018-07-25T00:20:40.958Z

Polaris is doing a good job at appealing to their target customer with a US made big cc v-twin cruiser.

Janet_Miller · 2018-07-26T16:13:15.867Z

What has he to do with less buying donor cycles?