COVID-19 Cuts Results at Harley-Davidson, Polaris

Harley-Davidson Q1 2020 Sales Plunge 15.5%

Harley-Davidson said US sales were up 6.6% in the quarter before the pandemic ground the economy to a halt in mid-March. But sales wound up plunging 15.5% in America compared to a year ago and 20.7% internationally. Overall revenue slipped 8% from last year’s first quarter.

For the quarter, Harley-Davidson posted earnings of $69.7 million compared with $127.9 million in the same period a year ago.

Michael Aistrup
Michael Aistrup

Harley-Davidson’s share in the U.S. heavyweight motorcycle market share was down 2.2 percentage points, to 48.9% and the company’s share of the heavyweight motorcycle market in Europe was 7.6% in the first quarter.

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Harley has reduced planned capital spending, frozen hiring, temporarily reduced salaries, eliminated merit increases for employees in 2020 and changed the timing of new product launches in order to preserve $250 million in 2020.

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Russia New Car Sales Drop 70% in April

New car sales plummeted by 102,000 vehicles in April, the largest monthly car sales decline in history in Russian, according to the Association of European Business.

Maxim Sakov
Maxim Sakov

During April, Russia introduced strict quarantine measures because of the coronavirus, causing car sales to fall by 102,089 units, or 72.4%.

After strong sales in March, dealers have had to suspend or restrict their activity.

“Black April” has dealt a strong blow to dealer cash liquidity, and seriously affected stability during middle-term period. The dealers are preparing to restart their business in May; however, they don’t expect significant sales growth.

AutoVAZ , the largest Russian car manufacturer, reported sales declined by three times in April over March.

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Hyundai China Sales Drop 77% in Six Years

FAR EAST: SOUTH KOREA REPORT

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor has announced that it will sell two plants in China. Beijing Hyundai, a joint venture with China’s state-owned auto giant Beijing Automotive Group, will reduce the number of plants in operation to two. Sluggish sales in the Chinese market have prompted the company to make structural reforms.

Hyundai Motor’s sales in China were 260,000 units in 2022; in 2016 it sold 1.13 million units, a 77% decline in six years.

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Q1 2020 Motorcycle Production in Brazil Was Strong But Will Drop in April

Different from the segments with 4 wheels or more, Motorcycles plants worked normally in March. The total production has been of 296 k motorcycles in the first quarter, about 7% above the same period of 2019. However, the stops in this sector started March 30 and will remain until the beginning of May.

Source: AutoData     Read The Article

PSR Analysis:

Although motorcycles are also a way of delivering packages in big Cities, sales of motorcycles in Brazil have a closer relationship with lower income individuals who see motorcycles as an alternative to bad public transportation or even animal transportation in rural locations.

This segment of the society has a high number of informal jobs, mostly related to service, heavily impacted by the social restriction measurements. Therefore, the impact on this business for the remainder of the year should be considerably high, despite of the growth in the first quarter. PSR

SOUTHEAST ASIA REPORT: Southeast Asia Auto Sales Drop 80% in April

The Southeast Asian auto industry continues to suffer from the effects of the new coronavirus. New car sales in April were down 80% year-on-year due to restrictions on activity in each country. New car sales in the six major countries were down 82% in April from a year earlier to 51,063 units.

Akihiro Komuro
Akihito Komuro

The biggest declines were in Malaysia and the Philippines, where sales were down 99.7% and 99.5%. Both countries began restricting activity in March, with production and sales of cars almost completely halted in April. Indonesia, the largest market, was down 91%. Thailand sales slumped 65%, although car dealerships operated under a declared state of emergency.

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Personal Mobility Segment Lacks Sparkle, Stocks, Demand Drop

Aditya Kondejkar

Passenger vehicles sales dropped 41% to around 160k units in September as the shortage of semi-conductors disrupted production at most of the OEMs. OEMs are facing supply shortages rather than demand problems. We are seeing robust customer demand as increasing preferences towards personal mobility increase.

2-wheel sales declined 17% to 1.5 million units in September. The Motorcycle segment is heavily impacted as sales is dropped 23% in September. Owing to high vehicle acquisition costs and high fuel prices, inquiries regarding new vehicles have dropped significantly compared with last years’ level.

“Indian automobile industry continues to face new challenges, said Kenichi Ayukawa, President, SIAM. “While on one hand, we are seeing a revival in vehicle demand, on the other hand, shortage of semi-conductor chips is causing a major concern for the industry. Many members have curtailed their production plans.”

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PSR Analysis: So, we believe the on road segments have witnessed a V-shaped recovery since the second wave of COVID-19 and won’t see a regular festive season spike for this year.   PSR

Aditya Kondejkar is Research Analyst – South Asia Operations, for Power Systems Research

Russian Car Sales in September Drop 22.6%

Sales on new passenger cars and LCVs in September 2021 declined 22.6%, according to the Association of European Businesses (AEB). In total, automotive salons and dealers have sold 119,4 000 cars, which is 34,9 vehicles less than in 2020 September.

According to AEB head Tomas Schterzel, “negative trend is going on” (in August the sales dropped 17%), although the totals for the first nine months of 2021 are showing 15.1% growth versus the same period in 2020. The shortage of vehicles on the market is connected to decreased production and the deficit of semiconductors. The energy crisis in China and UK, growing prices of raw materials and other problems will support negative trend in the market during the near term.

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PSR Analysis: The problem here is not only in components deficit, but primarily in the car prices going up and the consumer’s incomes going down. So, the negative trend will develop further. PSR

Maxim Sakov is Market Consultant – Russia Operationsfor Power Systems Research

Argentina Car Sales Drop 24%, But Production Grows

Fabio Ferraresi
Fabio Ferraresi

Sales in October 2021 are 24.1% lower than the same period of 2020 in Argentina, at about 25,000 units. This is also 1.6% lower than September 2021. On the other hand, production has grown 42.8% in October 2021 over October 2020 with 41,000 units produced, driven by strong exports.

Source: Automotive Business     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: Brazil’s shortage of cars is due to a shortage of semiconductors and supply chain issues caused by the demand increase for Argentinian cars and the effect of higher exports. Economic issues and exchange rates boost the high demand in Brazil.   PSR

Fabio Ferraresi is Director-Business Development South America for Power Systems Research

PowerTALK June 2018

Purchasing “Outside-the-Box” by Polaris

Polaris Industries, the $5.4 billion maker of snowmobiles, off-road vehicles and motorcycles, says it has agreed to acquire Boat Holdings, a boat manufacturer owned by the Vogel family, management and Balmoral Funds, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $805 million.

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Gen-Set Sales Start Slow in Q1 2017

SUMMARY: Considering sales across all power ranges, gen-set sales were off to a slower start in Q1 2017, down 5.5% compared to Q4 2016 levels.  This decrease follows Q4 2016 where overall dealer reported sales were flat relative to Q3 2016 levels.

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