Harley-Davidson continued its worldwide growth trend in 2014 , the Motor Company posting positive sales results for both the year and fourth quarter.
Harley says that 267,999 motorcycles were sold worldwide, a 2.7-percent increase over 2013 when 260,839 units were sold. This was driven stronger than expected international sales, which were up 5.4 percent for the year, and 9.2 percent for the fourth quarter.
When broken down by region, year-on-year sales were up 1.3 percent in the U.S., 11.8 percent in the Asia Pacific region, 6.4 percent in the EMEA region, 2.1 percent in the Latin America region, but were down 10.8 percent in Canada compared to 2013.
In the fourth quarter, Harley sold 47,149 new motorcycles, up 2.8 percent compared to 45,875 motorcycles in the year-ago quarter. In the U.S., dealers sold 26,957 new Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the quarter, down 1.6 percent compared to sales of 27,387 motorcycles in the year-ago period.
In international markets, dealers in the fourth quarter sold 20,192 new Harley-Davidson motorcycles during the quarter, up 9.2 percent compared to sales of 18,488 motorcycles in the year-ago period, with unit sales up 14.2 percent in the Asia Pacific region, 8.7 percent in the EMEA region and 4.7 percent in the Latin America region, and down 5.7 percent in Canada.
“Harley-Davidson achieved a great year of financial performance in 2014, with double-digit earnings growth, revenue topping $6 billion and continued strong improvement in margins,” says Keith Wandell, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Harley-Davidson, Inc.
“We also continued to broaden our customer base and expand the reach of our brand through unrivaled products and experiences. In international markets, our dealers in Asia Pacific, EMEA and Latin America posted their highest new motorcycle sales on record for each region, delivering on our expectation for international sales to grow at a faster rate than U.S. sales. And in the U.S., for the third straight year, sales to our outreach customers grew at more than twice the rate of sales to core customers.
“Our success is the result of a clear focus on managing the company for the long term, building on our well-established strategies and driving continuous improvement in every aspect of our business.”
