Harley recorded a 6th place market share in Germany for 2018 at 10.09%, selling 10,929 units there for a +19.52% increase in share over 2017. Its top seller was the Street Bob (882 units), the 28th most popular motorcycle in Germany last year, followed by the Fat Bob 114 (35th), XL 1200X (39th) and Breakout 114 (42nd).
Indian Motorcycle recorded a creditable 12th place in market share terms in Germany in 2018, selling 1,080 units for a 1.00% market share - its highest to date and +63.39% over its 2017 performance.
Harley scored 5th place in market share terms in Austria in 2018, selling 1,079 units for a 7.73% share, up 14.18% over its 2017 performance. Market leader in Austria was KTM, in its home market, followed by BMW, Honda and Yamaha - meaning Harley is outperforming some significant players in a market that was worth 13,965 new motorcycle registrations in 2017 (+8.79%).
Meanwhile, in Switzerland Harley scored fourth place in market share terms in 2018, taking 10.98% of the market, selling 2,694 units (which was actually down 183 units/-6.13%) over 2017. The Swiss market was worth 24,544 new motorcycle registrations in 2018 (down from 26,910 units in 2017) with Yamaha the ‘Top Dog’ at 17.74% share, followed by BMW and Honda.
Harley has confirmed that it will build its European models at the factory it commissioned in Q3 in Thailand. Further expansion of the initial build is already taking place.
Indian Motorcycle has announced it is to accelerate the July 2018 announced plan to manufacture Scout models for Europe at its Polaris ATV/UTV facility in Poland. The intention is to “reduce the impact of the retaliatory tariffs on motorcycles imposed by the EU in response to the Trump administration’s aluminum and steel tariffs.” The facility in Poland will assemble CKD kits (Complete Knock Down) shipped there from its Spirit Lake, Iowa motorcycle manufacturing and assembly facility.
February saw the return of the Harley-Davidson edition F-150 pick-up in a collaboration with Fox Factory Holding subsidiary Tuscany Motor Co - a specialist in special and limited edition Fords. The formal special edition collaboration between Harley and Ford ended in 2012, but from its inception in 2000 some 70,000 Harley F-150 specials are said to have been sold.
Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, B&B, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MNW