The dust having now settled on the excitement that greeted Harley ’ s rumored appointment of Goldman Sachs to explore Ducati acquisition options , in a rare outbreak of “ Unions do something useful , shock ,” Volkswagen ’ s hopes of selling Ducati have been scuppered by the powerful German unions ( who account for half of the seats on the auto giant ’ s advisory board ) being united in opposition to the sale .

It has emerged that while several serious bids were indeed received for Ducati in response to Volkswagen ’ s preliminary Offer for Sale , Bajaj Auto and the Italian Benneton investment fund were believed to have been favorites to win the bidding war . Some reports suggest that Royal Enfield ( and Polaris joint venture partner Eicher Motors ) increased its initial par bid of around $ 1.5Bn to $ 2.0Bn .

Talking of Unions , as has been widely reported , but probably not really noticed much as such , the United Steelworkers and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers have terminated their 22-year old agreements with Harley , claiming that the company has been “ systematically dismantling its hourly workforce ” for some seven years . Harley spokesperson Pat Sweeney is reported to have stated that the decision will not affect how Harley deals with workplace issues .

As at August 2017 Harley- Davidson was in 6th spot in motorcycle market share terms in Germany , having sold 7,666 units for an 8.93 percent share ; down from 9,252 units / 10.09 percent for the first eight months of 2016 .

Harley ’ s top-seller in Germany Jan- Aug 2017 , and the 25th best-selling motorcycle in Germany for the first eight months , was the XL 1200 X ( 884 units ); the Breakout was the 31st best-seller in Germany ( 804 units ); Dyna Street Bob 34th ( 787 units ); and XL 883 Iron 43rd ( 597 units ).

In other German market news , Harley has done a deal with guarantee provider CG to extend its standard two-year warranty on new bike sales to four years .

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believe we are uniquely positioned to build ridership and strengthen the sport of motorcycling , not just in the U . S ., but around the world . Our investments in new product and marketing are targeted to drive ridership growth . We have the strategies , plans and people to make it happen ,” said Levatich . Harley-Davidson says it continues to expect to ship 241,000 to 246,000 motorcycles to dealers worldwide in 2017 , which is down approximately 6 to 8 percent from 2016 . In the fourth quarter , the company expects to ship 46,700 to 51,700 motorcycles compared to 42,414 motorcycles shipped in the year-ago period . Harley say the quarter was impacted by soft used bike prices and the hurricanes in Texas and Florida , though by the end of the quarter used

Income statements in THREE MONTHS ENDED NINE MONTHS ENDED $ 1,000s ( except share ) SEPT 2017 SEPT 2016 SEPT 2017 SEPT 2016

NET SALES REVENUE

Figures are shown THREE MONTHS ENDED NINE MONTHS ENDED in $ 1,000s SEPT 2017 SEPT 2016 SEPT 2017 SEPT 2016

MOTORCYCLE SHIPMENT DATA NOTE : H-D MOTORCYLE SHIPMENT DATA IS NOT THE SAME AS RETAIL REGISTRATIONS

6 AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - NOVEMBER 2017 www . AMDchampionship . com