Harley-Davidson Suspends All Vehicle Production for Two Weeks
Thu, 19 May 2022
Harley-Davidson announced it is pausing assembly and shipments of all motorcycles for a two-week period due to a problem with a component from a third-party supplier. Production halted as of May 18, the day after Harley-Davidson was notified about the problem by the supplier.
The official statement was brief, and offered very little in the way of detail. It reads:
Statement from Harley-Davidson
MILWAUKEE, May 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Yesterday, Harley-Davidson, Inc. (“Harley-Davidson”) (NYSE:HOG) took the decision to suspend all vehicle assembly and shipments (excluding LiveWire) for a two-week period. This decision, taken out of an abundance of caution, is based on information provided by a third-party supplier to Harley-Davidson late on Tuesday (5/17) concerning a regulatory compliance matter relating to the supplier’s component part.
There are a few details we can deduce from Harley-Davidson’s statement. Harley-Davidson says vehicle assembly is suspended, which suggests it will mainly affect its facility in York, PA. There is no indication that its powertrain operations in Menomonee Falls, Wisc., is affected, though there will likely be some trickle-down affect from the backlog. This suggests that the suspect component isn’t part of the powertrain.
LiveWire production will continue at the York facility, so we can assume the affected part isn’t used on the electric motorcycle. And yet, the suspect component must be common to a large number of models for it to affect production at this scale.
The fact that shipments are affected suggests that the non-compliant part may have already been installed on some assembled models. What remains to be seen is whether the part is present on motorcycles that have already been shipped and may already be in the hands of consumers. If so, then a recall may be issued to address the problem. At the moment, there is no indication that products from previous model years are affected.
The phrase “regulatory compliance matter” suggests that the component in question isn’t necessarily faulty but that it may not meet standards established by a body such as the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency. This can include a number of things, and at the moment, there is not enough information to make any further assumptions.
As of this writing, the production delay is expected to last for two weeks, which will give the third-party supplier timer to provide compliant parts, or for Harley-Davidson to find an alternative source. The stoppage may go on longer if a solution isn’t in place in two weeks time.
This is a developing story, and we will provide further updates as information becomes available.
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Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.
More by Dennis Chung
Man this sucks, now dealerships can really screw you and give this excuse to raise their prices. I mean the COVID supply chain bs isn't enough, then what is?
- See 4 previous
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Imtoomuch on May 20, 2022
There are plenty of supply chain issues and that's not BS.
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MikeD on May 20, 2022
I think he used B.S as a substitute for "situation".
Not as a means to call the COVID fueled supply chain woes "made up fake news". -
Imtoomuch on May 20, 2022
Oh true. I've seen too many deniers and tinfoil hatters on the internet.
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MikeD on May 20, 2022
👌😁👍
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Alaskan18724 on May 21, 2022
How can you tell when they *really* screw you? Whole lot of screwing has been going on for a while now. Dealer set up for bikes that pretty much arrive assembled. Sealants and protectors for factory finishes. Additional dealer markup. Back in the day, at least they’d give you a courtesy lick and throw in some chrome you didn’t want, or yet another leather jacket. When my local dealer sold out to to Toyota dealer, the screwing got rapacious. If I buy another Harley, I’ll drive three hours to a family dealer.
I'm thinking engine management MPU.
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