‘Premium pricing’ bolsters 2013 Harley lineup: analyst
With its 2013 lineup, Harley-Davidson “has rediscovered its premium pricing power, pushing through an average 1.3 percent price increase on recurring models,” according to a research note provided to Powersports Business by BMO Capital Markets analyst Gerrick J. Johnson.
Johnson says that last year “the company held prices constant for recurring models, only bringing prices up by 2.5 percent for those bikes that received a powerplant displacement upgrade to 103 cubic inches from 96 cubic inches.”
Johnson also notes that BMO Capital Markets “believe enthusiasts will react positively to the new lineup, which includes a CVO Softail Breakout, redesigned Dyna Street Bob, 110th Anniversary limited edition bikes based on 10 current models, and the introduction of Hardy Candy Custom flake paint as a standard paint option.”
In performing dealer checks after the lineup was released, Johnson found one dealer who “believes the paint will close more deals for her, saying ‘customers fall in love with the bike once they see the flake paint in the sunlight.”
Other takeaways from Johnson’s note:
- “The average price increase (excluding non-recurring CVO models) is 1.3 percent for MY2013, up from a 1.2 percent increase for MY2012. However, last year, for MY2012, HOG increased the displacement on 13 of its 26 continuing non-CVO models, to 103 cubic inches from 96 cubic inches. The company increased prices on these particular bikes by an average of 2.5 percent, and any models that did not receive an engine upgrade maintained its price from MY2011. This model year, HOG offers no such powerplant upgrades, so we think the 1.3 percent average price increase represents reinvigorated pricing power for HOG, a positive sign.”
- New 2013 models were released a month later than last year. “In recent history, the dealer show … has been mid- to late-July, with initial shipments occurring shortly thereafter. According to the company, HOG moved its show, and the release of the new models, to later in the summer at the request of dealers. Indeed, dealers we spoke with embraced the later release schedule, explaining that it gave them more time to move 2012 models during the summer riding season. These dealers felt that, in the past, a prospective buyer looking to purchase a bike in May or June would simply wait until July in order to get the newer model. Now, with the shift, that buyer misses more of the riding season if he or she waits for the new models, an opportunity cost too great for many riders.”
- Here’s a look at the MY2013 pricing:
Superlow: $8,099
Iron 883: $7,999
1200 Custom: $10,499
Forty-Eight: $10,599
Seventy-Two: $10,699
Street Bob: $12,999
Super Glide Custom: $13,199
Wide Glide: $14,999
Switchback: $16,199
Fat Bob: $15,499
Night Rod Special: $14,449
V-Rod Muscle: $15,149
Blackline: $15,599
Fat Boy Lo: $16,799
Fat Boy: $16,999
Softail Deluxe: $17,399
Heritage Softail Classic: $17,599
Road King: $17,699
Street Glide: $19,799
Road Glide Custom: $19,799
Electra Glide Classic: $19,699
Road King Classic: $19,899
Ultra Classic Electra Glide: $21,799
Road Glide Ultra: $22,799
Electra Glide Ultra Limited: $24,199
Tri-Glide Ultra Classic: $30,999
Road Glide Custom: $32,999
Breakout: $26,499
Road King: $29,999
Ultra Classic Electra Glide: $37,599
