Harley Suspends Production - Again
For the second time in a little over 12 months, Harley has suspended production due to a brake system component issue.
In June the company announced that it had been notified of a potential quality issue relating to brake hose assemblies provided by a tier-2 supplier - Manchester, New Hampshire based Proterial Cable America ("PCA"), a "portfolio company" of Bain Capital that supplies Harley's tier-1 brake system suppliers.
"Following this notification, Harley-Davidson will be running limited motorcycle manufacturing operations at its York facility. This is a new supplier quality issue, separate from the matter that caused the production suspension in May 2022."
Based on the latest information provided by PCA, Harley-Davidson said that it anticipated that it will have been able to resume full motorcycle manufacturing operations at its York facility on June 26, 2023. The company does not expect its international production to be meaningfully impacted.
Jochen Zeitz, Chairman, President and CEO, Harley-Davidson, said: "While retail sales have improved in the quarter, as we had expected, we have a strong inventory position in the network to help us navigate through this situation - our teams are working very hard to minimize the impact on the business."
The recently launched 2023 CVO Road Glide and Street Glide motorcycles do not utilize these brake hose assemblies.