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Powersports Business • September 2025 • 9

Harley-Davidson exceeded revenue expectations in Q2 2025, but profits and motorcycle sales fell sharply as the company navigates soft demand, elevated tariff costs, and cautious consumer spending.

While revenue came in ahead of expectations for Wall Street investors, Harley’ s profit margins were under pressure. Global shipments declined 28 %, and the company’ s net income fell to $ 108 million— down over 50 % year-over-year.

CEO Jochen Zeitz said retail trends improved sequentially each month through Q2 and into July, despite overall softness:

“ If you look back all the way from February, retail trends for new motorcycle unit sales improved every month. We expect that to continue in July as well— with significant improvement expected.”

Harley continued cutting dealer inventory, now 28 % lower than a year ago. Zeitz added:

“ We expect to end the year with very healthy levels of dealer inventory … definitely a double-digit decline [ YoY ] is our target.”

TARIFFS & WITHHELD GUIDANCE Tariff-related costs totaled $ 13 million in the quarter, representing a projected $ 130 –$ 175 million impact for the full year. Management again withheld full-year guidance for the core motorcycle business due to uncertainty around global tariffs and consumer spending patterns.

KKR & PIMCO DEAL UNLOCKS $ 1.25 BILLION

Harley sold a 4.9 % stake in its financial services arm( HDFS) to KKR and PIMCO, unlocking $ 1.25 billion in cash. The deal will fund $ 450

million in debt reduction and $ 500 million in share repurchases later this year. CFO Jonathan Root explained the 4.9 % stake was designed to remain under FDIC ownership caps:

CEO Jochen Zeitz says retail trends improved sequentially each month through Q2 and into July, despite overall softness.( Photo: Harley- Davidson Inc.)

“ The 4.9 % threshold is something that the FDIC has a comfort level with … Beyond that, it becomes more complex from a regulatory standpoint.”

ELECTRIC SEGMENT FALLS LiveWire’ s deliveries plummeted 65 % to just 55 units. Revenue was $ 6 million, and Harley capped future investment at a $ 100 million credit facility. Full-year LiveWire losses are expected to reach up to $ 69 million. Zeitz acknowledged infrastructure and policy headwinds:

“ Charging infrastructure is still lagging, and the lack of purchase incentives makes it hard to compete with internal combustion.”

See Harley Page 11

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New York City-based Ekho recently secured $ 17.3 million in investments following a seed and Series- A funding round.( Photo: Ekho)

Ekho, a company providing digital vehicle sales infrastructure, recently announced it completed a $ 17.3 million seed and Series-A funding round.

The $ 15 million Series A was led by Activant Capital, with participation from JPMorgan Payments, Winnebago Industries, Y Combinator, and other strategic investors, including former Tesla executives.

Ekho enables OEMs, dealerships, and marketplaces to offer a seamless online checkout experience— completing all aspects of the vehicle transaction digitally, from financing and insurance to tax remittance and registration. Clients can go live in days, and Ekho’ s modular platform integrates into existing sales processing workflows, helping partners unlock incremental sales, reduce overhead, and offer an improved vehicle buying experience.

Co-founders Rowan Mockler and Chris Howard— who met while studying computer science at Stanford University— say they plan to use the funding to scale their team in response to surging demand.

See Ekho, Page 10

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