Harley Davidson: Sales and profits are down

24.07.2018

Sales and profits decline
Harley Davidson feels the pressure

The aging customer base creates problems for the US motorcycle manufacturer in addition to EU tariffs. Sales and profits continued to decline in the last quarter. The importance of doing business abroad is demonstrated by the current business figures.

Harley-Davidson motorcycle manufacturer, which is constantly under fire by US President Donald Trump, had to make major cuts in the last quarter. Compared to the same period last year, net profit fell more than 6% to $ 242.3 million (about 207 million euros), Harley-Davidson said Tuesday at his office from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Sales fell by just over 3% to $ 1.5 billion. Analysts had feared much larger drops.

The 115-year-old American company took Trump's anger in June by deciding to transfer part of its production abroad. The US president threatened the company on Twitter with the "beginning of the end" and announced: "You will be taxed like never before!". Harley responded with the planned transfer of manufacturing capacity to retaliate tariffs of the European Union in the Trump trade dispute. Trump yielded later and hinted via Twitter that he wanted to bring a Harley competitor to the United States.

See also: Five facts about Harley-Davidson's fate

The importance of international trade for the manufacturer is reflected in the quarterly figures. While motorcycle sales in the US market declined 6.4%, there was at least a slight increase of 0.7% abroad.

Harley-Davidson has been struggling for some time with a drop in demand. American clientele. Trump's attacks, which could prevent his customers from buying Harley in the future, and the new EU tariffs are likely to make the case even more difficult in the future .

rei / dpa