Thought I'd pass along the information, as it's an interesting read...

As was predicted, sales were down almost across the board, but the 26.3% drop in 4th quarter net sales (compared to the prior year) was much higher than many expected.

The only area that showed an increase in sales over the previous year was "General Merchandise" (clothing items), that had sales of 73.4 million and was an increase of 4% over 2006. Why doesn't that surprise me.

https://www.hdforums.com/m_2773873/tm.htm

As expected overall new bikesales were down, with the report showing sales of 114,076 touring models, 144,507 customs, and 72,035 for the various Sportster models.

 

HD stock has also dropped from $72.00 one year ago to $41.00 today, not good.

 

I find it interested that prices and incentives haven't changed in lieu of this report. I've been trying to buy another bike and all the stealers are sticking to their guns on prices and offering rediculous trade-in prices.

 

Actually it's worse than that....

Right now HOG stock is at $38.70 a share...

 

It's not so much interesting as it is a market strategy. Harley-Davidson in the motorcycle world is equivalent to DeBeers in the diamond world. They seek to retain high cost and "value" by regulating supply to just below demand, thereby ensuring a perceived value (even if only at MSRP) for their product.

 

Anybody see any financial reports of any other motorcycle manufacturers? I would imagine that they probably saw similar sales declines. (just a guess)

Of course, the economy as a whole has taken a downturn, but I think the "cruiser craze" is rapidly coming to an end. The chopper shows are off the air, etc. There was certainly amotorcycle "fad" that came - and is now going.

 

A portion of a quote made by Harley CEO Jim Ziemer;

"Consumer confidence is low, and housing and credit issues persist," he told analysts on a conference call. "All this adds up to a weak retail sales environment for major discretionary purchases, including our motorcycles."

 

True, but my past experience has been that if I'm willing to pay their price (sticker), they are willing to give me mine. Now they are not, they are pulling trade-in values from KBB and holding their price.

 

And I think most of us can see this or have experienced it. I work in a family owned business and it is exactly as he says right now. I don't think we can blanket it with the "Cruiser craze" is over. More and more of my friends are actuallylooking into bikes, cruisers or otherwise. A>They see how much fun I have. B>The gas crunch. It's safe to say that it will have some effect on the market but I doubt it would change overnight. You can take away the shows but you can't take away the freedom that a bike gives you. And I believe that drives the market harder today than ever before. But, you can't spend what you don't have, even though some people try to.

Let's see if it goes up once everyone gets their 6 large from George.

 

I believe the HD sales phenomenon we've recently witnessed over the past yearswas a result of the Baby Boomer generation finally getting that Harley they always wanted but couldn't afford. Now that market is pretty much saturated and HD will need to market to a whole new mindset of riders who are providing strong sales in the Super Bike and Sport Bike categories. I have not as yet seen numbers for the "big 3" from Japan, but I suspect their sales curves are somewhat akin to Harley's; however, I would be willing to bet that their overall % of the market has been on the rise as Harley's is likely on the decrease.