Aug. 11, 2008 – Harley U.S. sales off nearly 9%

Harley-Davidson posted decreases in revenue and net income for its second quarter as its U.S. retail sales fell nearly 9 percent.
The manufacturer reported a roughly 3 percent drop in net revenue to $1.57 billion and a more than 23 percent decrease in net income to $222.8 million.
“During the second quarter we shipped 80,326 Harley-Davidson motorcycles to our dealers and distributors around the world,” Jim Ziemer, Harley-Davidson’s CEO, said in a press release. “While this result exceeds our guidance range of 76,000-80,000 units for the quarter, it is a decrease of 15.6 percent from the year-ago period.”
Harley’s U.S. sales for the second quarter fell 8.7 percent, much more than its U.S. competition. Harley said the heavyweight motorcycle market increased slightly — less than 1 percent — during the same time period.
For the first half, Harley’s U.S. retail sales are down slightly more than 10 percent to 130,437 units.
“We expect U.S. economic conditions and ongoing consumer concerns to continue to create challenges at least through the end of the year,” Ziemer said.
International sales, however, continue to increase. Sales outside of the United States for Harley-Davidson have risen more than 13 percent in the first half to total 44,755 units. psb