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Harley-Davidson has just completed year three of their five-year Hardwire strategy, and CEO Jochen Zeitz is feeling pretty good about what the company has accomplished.
– Jochen Zeitz, Chairman, President and CEO, Harley-Davidson |
Of course, the quote is followed by Harley’s Q4 and 2023 global sales results.
Let’s see how everybody’s feeling, shall we?
What was in Harley-Davidson’s Q3 results?
If you recall, last quarter (Q3) saw Q3 motorcycle sales saw a decline of 9% compared to last year, contributing to a global dip of -16%.
The wilting sales figures were purported to result from higher interest rates to “weaker than expected demands.”
LiveWire was particularly affected in Q3, rendering a mere 50 bike shipments and a -76% drop since Q2.
What has Harley-Davidson logged for Q4 of 2024?
According to HD’s recent press release (published to PRNewswire), sales were looking a little different for Harley-Davidson‘s fourth quarter.
Here’s a portion of the table proffered in the press release as well as the reason given for each figure:
|
Motorcycles (thousands) |
4th quarter | ||
| 2023 | 2022 | Change | |
| North America | 17.5 | 19.2 | -9 % |
| EMEA | 5.1 | 6.6 | -22 % |
| Asia Pacific | 6.8 | 7.5 | -10 % |
| Latin America | 0.8 | 0.6 | 46 % |
| Worldwide Total | 30.2 | 33.8 | -11 % |
North America: -9%
- “[sales figure] continues to be impacted by both the high interest rate environment and the discontinuation of legacy Sportster at the end of 2022 in the region.”
EMEA: -22%
- “[sales figure] driven by weakness in the France and German markets.”
APAC: -10%
- “[sales figure] driven by weakness in the Australian and New Zealand markets.”
Latin America: +46%
- “[sales figure] increases were driven by growth in both Brazil and in Mexico.”
While Harley’s Q4 ICE shipments are down -13%, LiveWire has reanimated with 514 units sold for Q4, leading to a slap-happy +645% increase compared to the same quarter in 2022.
Revenue is also up to +$15 million (from $9 million), a number that Harley tells us was “expected.”
What are Harley-Davidson’s 2024 Global results?
Overall, we’re looking at a global decline of -9% for sale of Harley’s ICE bikes in 2023, with global LiveWire bike shipments up +11% thanks to sales of the new S2 Del Mar.
Both of those numbers are compared to 2022.
Here are the relevant tables from Harley’s press release:
| Harley-Davidson Retail Motorcycle Sales
Motorcycles (thousands) |
Full Year | ||
| 2023 | 2022 | Change | |
| North America | 105.9 | 117.1 | -10 % |
| EMEA | 27.0 | 30.5 | -11 % |
| Asia Pacific | 27.0 | 27.9 | -3 % |
| Latin America | 2.9 | 2.9 | 0 % |
| Worldwide Total | 162.8 | 178.5 | -9 % |
| LiveWire – Results
$ in millions |
Full Year | ||
| 2023 | 2022 | Change | |
| Electric Motorcycle Shipments (units) | 660 | 597 | 11 % |
| Revenue | $38 | $47 | -18 % |
| Operating Loss | ($117) | ($85) | nm |
Add to this the fact that Harley also repurchased $350 million of their own shares on a discretionary basis, and things are looking very nice for the American motorcycle manufacturer.
What do you think of Harley’s 2023 sales figures?