On October 26, 2023, Harley-Davidson presented its financial results for the third quarter of 2023. Although CEO Jochen Zeitz specifically highlighted the positive news that retail sales in the CVO market increased by 25%, a closer look at the revenue and motorcycle sales numbers unfortunately presents a less optimistic outlook.
As a reminder, Harley-Davidson’s report format segments the company into three parts: Harley-Davidson Motor Company (all motorcycles except LiveWire), Harley-Davidson Financial Services, and LiveWire. This structure has been the way the Motor Company has treated its financial reports since it spun off LiveWire into its own company in 2022.
Together, the three segments of Harley-Davidson form Harley-Davidson Incorporated, which is the overall entity reporting Consolidated Financial Results. Year after year, the Motor Company reported a 24% drop in profits in the third quarter of 2022. Reuters noted that stocks fell 11% in response to this news.
Harley-Davidson reported that retail motorcycle sales of all its motorcycles (excluding LiveWire) decreased in all geographic regions in the third quarter of 2023. Overall, global sales fell by 16% compared to the previous year.
In North America, Motor Company saw a 15% decrease in sales in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. In Europe, Middle East, and Africa (which count as one region, called EMEA for short), sales dropped by 13%. For the Asia-Pacific region, sales fell by 24%. Finally, in Latin America, sales declined by 11% in the third quarter of 2023.
