Tariffs and Canadian Counter-Tariffs are having and will continue to have a profound effect on the cost of motorcycles imported to Canada.
A two-way, 25% tariff on Canadian motorcycles imported to the U.S., and those imported to Canada in return means that for some manufacturers, like Harley-Davidson and Indian, the tariffs will have a profound effect.
For other manufacturers who do not solely build their motorcyles in the U.S., but do some manufacturing in the U.S. the impacts will be less of an issue.
Harley Davidson and Indian are both motorcycle brands that are highly susceptible to tariff cost issues and therefore the availability of their products and parts.
For Harley-Davidson, based on Q1 financials, (which I’ll delve into in a separate article), the effects will be profound, as tariffs apply globally to Europe and Asia.
HD’s financial position is dire. There is no other way to put lipstick on that pig of a fact.
HD is fighting to survive at this point, as losses continue to mount and sales globally continue to collapse.
Harley-Davidson has not faced up to a central fact.
Their purchasing public are essentially aging out of motorcycling and HD has done very little to asuade younger motorcyclists to buy motorcycles that for the majority, seem to have been designed for their grandfathers.
Additionally, HD’s plan to electrify their complete line of vehicles flies in the face of that ‘buying demographic’, boomers and older riders.
So tariffs amount to a sledge-hammer at HD. Without a significant influx of cash to keep HD afloat, HD’s dealer network is slated to collapse.
These days HD appears to be little more than a T-Shirt company, as bikes, some now two years old, still litter dealerships, and discounts are not moving those bikes.
Like KTM in some respects, the buying public has become wary of American motorcycles and the ever-increasing costs of buying them.
Trump may be the one who puts a nail in HD’s coffin, as tariffs on all HD products from China and Thailand mean that very few, if any motorcycles coming from there will be sold within the U.S.
Worse, tariffs on all HD products from the U.S. to the world are seeing tariffs of 25% or more added to the already overpriced Harley Davidson lineup.
LiveWire is about to collapse, still costing HD more than a hundred million in losses each year.
It’s time for HD to face facts.
It’s days are numbered, and that number is shrinking, daily.
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