INTERNATIONAL SHARE PRICES

Market analysis with financial editor Roger Willis

staged an impressive recovery to a high of $72.68. Cheaper entrylevel Street 750 models were launched that year, targeting younger customers to replace ageing-out Hog traditionalists. And the radical Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle prototype made its debut. Shipments peaked at 270,726.

Levatich was promoted to replace Wandell in 2015, assuming the three-moniker mantle of president, chairman and chief executive. The die was cast, though, and he oversaw an uninterrupted downhill trajectory. The Street initiative was a disappointment, US dealer discounting became rife to clear unsold stock and shipments steadily declined year-on-year.

By the end of 2019, annual production was down to 213,939 bikes, retail sales were shrinking faster and Levatich’s scalp was on the line. A pack of activist investors were plotting his demise. They succeeded. He reluctantly resigned in February 2020, to be replaced by a non-executive director as interim chairman.

Like the Spanish Inquisition, nobody had expected either a global pandemic or Jochen Zietz. The former disrupted production, distribution and sales – knocking Harley’s share price down to a painful low of $15.04 in March 2020. The latter, once confirmed as Harley supremo, dismissed serried ranks of senior, middleranking and junior managers. He then introduced sweeping reforms to make HarleyDavidson into “the world’s most desirable motorcycle brand”. These certainly didn’t come to fruition in the first year of Zietz boardroom hegemony.

Deftly avoiding blame for

LiveWire’s commercial failure, a project which he had championed prior to mass production and pathetic sales in late 2019, Zietz claimed all the plaudits for Harley’s Pan America 1250 entry into the adventure market – a swansong legacy that should have been rightfully attributed to his predecessor Matt Levatich, under whose aegis it had been developed.

He even shrugged off responsibility for the worst set of full-year financial results since those dire days of 2009, with a litany of excuses. For the record, In 2020, Harley-Davidson wholesale bike shipments plunged by 32.1% to just 145,246. Worldwide retail sales were 17.4% down to 180,248.

Revenue sank by 24.4% and the company was hammered by an operating loss on motorcycles and related products of £136.6m. Operating profit of £143.7m from the HDFS funding arm was a saving grace, boosted by lavish decreases in provision for bad debts. But the combined operating profit figure was peanuts, 98.3% down to a mere £7.1m. Net profit was almost non-existent, plummeting by 99.7% to under a million quid in loose change.

To be fair, Harley’s 2021 full-year results were a vast improvement. However, firstquarter data this year was less enthralling, as electronic component shortages queered the production pitch and operating profit fell by 16.4%. Analyst estimates suggest there will be no relief from semiconductor traumas and the added burden of price inflation in half-year numbers, which you should be able to peruse in next month’s BDN. And, as far as I’m concerned, the jury is still out on Zietz. Harley’s share price, by the way, is currently struggling to stay above the 30-buck mark. 

Contact 01237 422660 or adsales@dealernews.co.uk On the Money

A snapshot of share performance across key manufacturers and markets

prices were generally unsullied. The only loser was market leader Hero MotoCorp, which had just announced yet another set of across-the-board price rises to counter inflation – a move that was clearly unpopular among investors.

CHINA – NUMBERS CRUNCH

Chinese government statisticians revealed that a strictly applied lockdown policy had resulted in sharp contraction for China’s economy during Q2. Although overall growth was up by 0.4%, way below previous official forecasts, GDP in the quarter fell by 2.6%.

That news spannered six consecutive weeks of rising indices. Shanghai’s SSE Composite plunged 3.8% and the CSI 300 suffered a bigger 4.1% dive. Only three of the eleven listed Chinese motorcycle manufacturers remained in positive territory. www.britishdealernews.co.uk

Price Week Month

USA (dollar) Harley-Davidson 32.57 +0.4% +5.8% Polaris Industries 107.86 -3.7% +10.6% Textron 60.15 -1.5% +2.3% Ideanomics (Energica) 0.71 -2.7% +6.0%

Europe (euro) BMW Volkswagen Pierer Mobility Piaggio Group 75.12 -1.2% -3.2% 184.40 -2.3% +1.5% 62.00 -1.0% -8% 2.29 -1.3% -1.3%

India (rupee) Hero MotoCorp 2800.05 -1.7% +13.5% Bajaj Auto 3913.35 +2.3% +7.7% TVS Motor 871.65 +3.9% +23.8% Eicher Motors 3034.00 +3.5% +16.5% Mahindra 1172.50 +3.4% +17.5% Japan (yen) Honda Yamaha Suzuki Kawasaki Price Week Month

3373 +3.8% +3.4% 2458 -1.9% -3.8% 4329 +2.1% +7.0% 2451 -1.6% -11.4%

China (yuan) Qianjiang Zongshen Sundiro CETC (Jialing) Lifan 16.00 -1.8% -20.6% 6.66 +11.4% +7.8% 2.36 +0.9% +8.8% 10.15 -7.1% -7.8% 5.00 -6.5% -4.6%

Loncin

4.44 -3.7% -10.7% Linhai 8.12 -0.9% -7.5% Guangzhou Auto 16.07 -3.6% -6.6% CFMoto 115.10 -7.5% -10.6% Xinri E-Vehicle 17.28 +15.7% +16.3%