(April 22, 2015) MILWAUKEE — Harley-Davidson first-quarter 2015 diluted earnings per share increased 5 percent to $1.27 compared to diluted EPS of $1.21 in the year-ago period. Net income was $269.9 million on consolidated revenue of $1.67 billion compared to net income of $265.9 million on consolidated revenue of $1.73 billion in last year's first quarter.

Revenue in this year's first quarter was down from the year-ago period primarily on unfavorable foreign currency exchange and slightly lower motorcycle shipments.

"While the first quarter had its share of headwinds, our business is strong and we remain clearly focused on executing Harley-Davidson's strategy to be customer-led in everything we do, grow our reach among new customers in the U.S., grow internationally and continuously improve every aspect of our operations," said Keith Wandell, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Harley-Davidson. "We continue to manage Harley-Davidson for long-term performance from a position of great strength."

In the first quarter of 2015, worldwide retail sales of new Harley-Davidson motorcycles decreased 1.3 percent compared to last year's first quarter. Dealers worldwide sold 56,661 new Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the first quarter of 2015 compared to 57,415 motorcycles in the year-ago quarter.

In the U.S., dealers sold 35,488 new Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the quarter, down 0.7 percent compared to sales of 35,730 motorcycles in the year-ago period. The company believes increased, aggressive competitive motorcycle discounting was among the factors adversely affecting first-quarter U.S. retail Harley-Davidson sales.

In international markets, dealers sold 21,173 motorcycles during the quarter compared to 21,685 in the year-ago period, with unit sales down 1.1 percent in the Asia Pacific region and 5.6 percent in the EMEA region and up 0.3 percent in the Latin America region and 5.7 percent in Canada.

"Given the first-quarter retail results, and ongoing, increased levels of aggressive competitive discounting in the U.S. which we expect will continue, we are taking the precautionary step of lowering our estimated growth rate for full-year motorcycle shipments in order to manage supply in line with demand and protect the premium nature of our brand," said Wandell.

The company now expects motorcycle shipments to grow approximately 2 percent to 4 percent in 2015, compared to its previous forecast of approximately 4 percent to 6 percent shipment growth.

"Despite the current headwinds, we believe Harley-Davidson's brand fundamentals remain strong," said Wandell. "Our brand is among the most iconic in the world and our motorcycles continue to generate great interest. Dealer sales of the newest Project Rushmore motorcycles — including the Road Glide and Low models — were robust in the first quarter, as were sales of the Harley-Davidson Street 750 and 500 motorcycles in international markets. Sales in many of our emerging markets were up significantly in the quarter, including India, China and Mexico. And we continue to grow our network of nearly 1,500 independent dealerships in more than 90 countries globally.

"We also recently received the annual data on our U.S. demographic market share, which we believe demonstrates the strength of the brand long-term," said Wandell.