Harley-Davidson Inc. on Thursday cut its shipments projection for 2016 as it reported its profit sank 43% in the fourth quarter on sluggish demand.
The earnings, however, still beat Wall Street expectations.
The motorcycle maker now expects to ship 1% to 3% more motorcycles this year compared with 2015, down from its prior projection that shipments would rise 3% to 5%.
The company is expected to unveil new models this year and ramp up its marketing campaign by 65%--about $70 million--in an effort to stir excitement about Harley-Davidson's namesake motorcycles.
Chief Executive Matt Levatich said he expected macroeconomic pressures to continue this year, but was confident the marketing campaign could boost results.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, the company sold fewer motorcycles across its sectors, with the exception of Canada and Asia-Pacific. U.S. sales slumped 3.4%.
Harley nabbed 51.4% of U.S. market share in the quarter, which it said was flat from a year earlier.
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3 comments:
bring your prices down. HD's are no better than any bike out there now. people just like the sound from the pipes and now other bikes have similar thumping twins for a lower price, maintenance and accessories.
HD's have a reputation and that is what sells most of their bikes. and some people think HD's give them status. that may have been true back in the day but foreign bikes have closed that gap.
I like Harley's but I look at the overall picture. Price, value, ( which Harley still leads in resale value), reliability, performance, maintenance costs, looks, sounds, etc.
I'm one of those that just like to ride and don't really care what I'm sitting on. I don't buy bikes to sit in a garage, be towed on a trailer or as a status symbol.
But that's just me.
The only reason car sales have been up in this country is that everyone was driving a car with so many miles on it they had to get something else. Times are tough!!
and that interest rates are low coupled with 6-7 year car loans.
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