Harley-Davidson considers selling its financial division

Harley-Davidson considers selling its financial division

It sounds unbelievable at first, but Harley-Davidson is seriously considering divesting an important part of its business - its in-house finance division HDFS. According to a Bloomberg report, more than one billion US dollars could flow from the sale.

Harley-Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) is the division responsible for financing motorcycles. Many who want to buy a new Harley zulegen, laufen genau über diesen internen Kreditarm – der übrigens 2024 stolze 248 Millionen US-Dollar operativen Gewinn abgeworfen hat. Nach meiner Kenntnis verdient Harley-Davidson mit dieser Sparte mehr als mit dem gesamten Merchandise-Geschäft. Trotzdem will man jetzt offenbar aussteigen.

Why? The reasons are obvious: rising interest rates, more loan defaults, a difficult market. As part of its „hardwire“ strategy, Harley wants to concentrate on its core business - in other words: building and selling motorcycles. And perhaps also a little on the electric division, if you interpret CEO Jochen Zeitz correctly.

Zeitz himself could also benefit from the sale. His remuneration is strongly linked to shares - and if the deal boosts the share price, his cash register will ring again. He had already announced that he would soon be stepping down as CEO - so one last big deal could come at just the right time.

Will the plan really be implemented? Nothing has been confirmed yet. But the information hasn't come from just anywhere. And it fits the picture: Harley has been trying to strike a balance between tradition, future and profitability for years. Perhaps the sale is another tough step on this path. And there is not much left to sell from the company.

Text & picture credits: Harleysite

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