H-D Confirms Road Glide Dump

In a conference call with investors yesterday, Harley-Davidson Inc. admitted the rumors are true: the Motor Company is dropping the Road Glide.

According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, during the investor call Thursday discussing second-quarter results Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) Senior Vice President and CFO John Olin publicly confirmed the previously reported model dump to the Motor Company’s Touring lineup. But Olin doesn’t see the change as having a major impact on overall sales.

“While those two Road Glide models are strong for us, they represent a relatively small portion of our touring sales,” Olin said in the investor call. “We don’t expect any large impact for taking those two models out for the next model year.”

Harley will release its 2014 model lineup in August. Typically, it doesn’t reveal details prior to its annual MY reveal, but a leaked internal memo alerting dealers to the decision to drop the FLTRX Road Glide Custom and FLTRU Road Glide Ultra earlier this year started the rumor mill churning back in April, leaving the company little choice but to confirm it publicly.

Olin said the decision was part of the company’s typical process of bringing models in and out of the lineup each year as it introduces new bikes.

Keith Wandell, chairman, president and CEO, told analysts that the 2014 lineup will include the first products resulting from the company’s overhauled product development operation.

“Through this transformation we expect to increasingly bring more ‘wow’ products to market in a shorter amount of time and with a greater level of customer and dealer input than ever,” Wandell said during the earnings call.

[SOURCE: The Business Journal]

By Jon Langston