Harley-Davidson’s Business Is Hurting Due to Coronavirus

COIVD-19 Takes Its Toll

The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on every industry. The market has dipped considerably, and Harley-Davidson wasn’t able to escape it. Like other motorcycle company’s Harley is struggling to cope. The company saw sales drop by 18 percent in Q1 of 2020 when compared with 2019’s Q1 sales results. In terms of profits, the company saw a 45 percent drop, according to Visordown. The profits went from $128m in Q1 of 2019 to $70m in Q1 of 2020.

Harley is now bracing for an even rougher Q2. The Coronavirus only really hit towards the end of Q1, and Q2 will be a full quarter of sales impacted by the pandemic. This could mean the company will see dramatic declines in the coming months. This comes after repeated declines quarter after quarter. Visordown reports the company has seen 21 quarterly declines in the last 22 quarters. 

“Covid-19 has dramatically changed our business environment and it is critical we respond with agility to this new reality,” said Jochen Zeitz taking the interim CEO of Harley-Davidson in a statement. “We have determined that we need to make significant changes to the company; to our priorities, to our operating model, and to our strategy to drive more consistent performance as we emerge from this crisis.”

None of this looks good for Harley, and it will be interesting to see how the company responds to the massive drop in sales in Q1 and the likely large drop that’s coming in Q2.