The number of Harley-Davidson dealerships outside the United States dropped 3.5 percent in 2015, even as the company opened 40 new dealerships and announced plans for hundreds more in the coming years.
The Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker ended 2015 with 739 international dealerships, down from 766 in 2014, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company announced on its most recent earnings call that it had added 40 international dealerships in 2015. Spokesman Tony Macrito said many of those were in China, India, Thailand, Germany, Poland and Mexico.
The company ended 2015 with 378 dealerships in its European region, up from 369 in 2014. The number of Asia Pacific dealerships dropped from 273 to 232. Macrito said the majority of closures in 2015 took place in Japan as the company sought to optimize the dealer network by closing smaller dealer points with limited services.
The company’s U.S. dealership numbers have been relatively steady since 2012. There were 696 dealerships at the end of 2015.
Harley announced plans in late 2015 to add between 150 and 200 international dealerships by 2020. Macrito said many of those would be in emerging markets. Absent any closures, the expansion would represent a 20 to 25 percent increase in dealerships internationally.
The expansion is part of a $70 million increase in investment to drive demand that includes customer-facing marketing, increased access points and increased ridership and increasing the cadence and impact of new products.
Some of the company’s efforts have been on display already in 2016. The company launched two of its new 2016 models at X Games Aspen. Other activities at the event included skier Jossi Wells teaching people how to ride and broadcasting it on Periscope.
The company also partnered with Rolling Stone and rapper Ludacris for events at New York Fashion Week.
