Harley-Davidson Yearly Sales Up 4.4% in 2013

Harley-Davidson 2013 Financial Report

Harley-Davidson continued to show growth throughout 2013, the year ending with a 4.4-percent increase in motorcycle sales compared to 2012. As for fourth-quarter sales, they were up 5.7 percent over the same period in 2012.

Harley attributes much of this growth to the release of the Project Rushmore motorcycles, and the celebration of The Motor Company’s 110th anniversary.

Keith Wandell (Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Harley-Davidson) says: “Without question 2013 was an outstanding year for Harley-Davidson. We unveiled game-changing motorcycles like Project Rushmore and Street, launched surge manufacturing, celebrated our 110th anniversary with customers around the globe and delivered continued financial growth.

“Harley-Davidson has been relentless at driving improvements throughout the organization that enable us to design, build and deliver motorcycles with unprecedented speed, efficiency, safety and quality. Together with our dealers, we continue to broaden our customer base and inspire riders to experience our brand. In 2013, retail sales of new Harley-Davidson motorcycles to outreach customers in the U.S. grew at more than twice the rate of sales growth to core customers, and we continued to expand the reach of our brand in international markets.

“None of these results would be possible without the great efforts of our employees, dealers and suppliers, working as one team and moving in one direction to fulfill customers’ dreams,” said Wandell. “Moving forward, we believe we are well positioned to leverage our momentum, expand our reach among new and existing customers, and further strengthen Harley-Davidson’s position as one of the world’s leading brands.”

Harley says that in 2013, 260,839 new Harley-Davidson motorcycles were sold, comported to 249,849 in 2012. Sales were up 4.4 percent in the U.S., 9.8 percent in the Asia Pacific region, 13.1 percent in Latin America and 4.6 percent in Canada. As for the EMEA region, sales were down 1 percent.

In the fourth quarter of 2013, Harley sold 45,875 motorcycles worldwide, compared to 43,405 in the same period of 2012.

n the U.S., dealers sold 27,387 new Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the quarter, up 6.3 percent compared to sales of 25,753 motorcycles in the year-ago period. In international markets, dealers sold 18,488 new Harley-Davidson motorcycles during the quarter, up 4.7 percent compared to 17,652 motorcycles in the year-ago period, with unit sales up 6.1 percent in the Asia Pacific region, 5.5 percent in the EMEA region and 13.3 percent in Canada, and down 2.8 percent in the Latin America region.

Things are expected to continue in 2014 due to the popularity of the Project Rushmore motorcycles, and the new entry-level Street 750 and Street 500.