2014 Harley-Davidson Q1 Sales Report
Harley-Davidson has released its 2014 Q1 financial report, which was highlighted by positive worldwide sales.
“Harley-Davidson delivered gains on many fronts in the first quarter, with shipments up 7.3 percent, strong margin improvement and solid growth in dealer new motorcycle sales,” said Keith Wandell, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Harley-Davidson, Inc.
“Thanks to the great contributions of our employees, dealers and suppliers, we continue to lead at delivering exceptional customer experiences in 89 countries. Our Project RUSHMORE motorcycles were in high demand in the quarter and we began shipping the Harley-Davidson Street 750 and 500 into select markets. These motorcycles, together with continuous improvement in our operations at every level, underscore the momentum we’ve established as a customer-led company.”
Harley says in the first quarter of 2014, 57,415 motorcycles were sold compared to 54,254 in the same quarter of 2013. This shows a 5.5-percent increase in Q1 sales.
In the USA, dealers sold 35,730 new Harley-Davidson motorcycles, up 3 percent compared to 34,706 motorcycles sold in Q1 of 2013.
In international markets, dealers sold 21,685 new Harley-Davidson motorcycles during the first quarter, up 10.9 percent compared to 19,548 motorcycles in the year-ago period, with sales up 20.5 percent in the Asia Pacific region, 8.2 percent in the EMEA region and 8.9 percent in the Latin America region, and down 2.4 percent in Canada.
“Our dealers had a solid quarter of retail motorcycle sales. Sales in the Asia Pacific region were up strongly, and we are encouraged by the continued growth of new Harley-Davidson motorcycle sales in Europe. We’re also excited to be entering the heart of the retail selling season in the U.S., having achieved first-quarter retail growth of 3.0% in the midst of a long, cold winter,” said Wandell.
“There’s also great news for Harley-Davidson in the annual reporting of our demographic market share data.”
Harley also reports that for the sixth consecutive year, it was the number-one seller of new road motorcycles in the USA, both 601cc-plus and across all displacements, to young adults age 18-34, women, African-Americans and Hispanics (“outreach” customers) and Caucasian men age 35-plus (“core” customers), according to Polk 2013 U.S. new motorcycle registration data from IHS Automotive. The Company grew its U.S. market share and also increased its share gap to the nearest competitor in each of these segments, compared to 2012, Harley reports.
“Together with our dealers, we continued to expand the appeal of our products and the Harley-Davidson experience,” said Wandell. “Harley-Davidson dealers sold more than four times as many new, on-road motorcycles, 601cc and up, to U.S. young adults last year, and among riders age 35-plus, more than nine times as many to women, more than six times as many to African Americans and more than seven times as many to Hispanics, as the nearest competitor.”
According to Harley-Davidson’s internal data, retail sales of its motorcycles to U.S. outreach customers grew at more than twice the rate of sales growth to core customers in 2013 compared to 2012.
Harley-Davidson says it continues to expect to ship 279,000 to 284,000 motorcycles to dealers and distributors worldwide in 2014, an approximate 7- to 9-percent increase from 2013.
In the second quarter of 2014, the Company expects to ship 92,000 to 97,000 motorcycles, up from shipments of 84,606 motorcycles in the year-ago period.
