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← BACK TO FEATURESFEATURE № C79897 / 2026.07.08
marketNorth America

S&P Downgrades Harley-Davidson's Credit Rating to 'Speculative' (Junk) Status

SOURCE — BLOOMBERGTAGS — #Market & Business #Harley-Davidson #USA #North America↗ Read the full story

This is an AI-generated digest of global and domestic motorcycle news. For full details, please read the original article.

№ C79897— MARKET
— HARLEY-DAVIDSON’S CREDIT RATINGS GET CUT TO JUNK
S&P Downgrades Harley-Davidson's Credit Rating to 'Speculative' (Junk) Status
TEXT-ONLY EDITIONFIG. —
PHOTO — BLOOMBERG / © Bloomberg

Ratings agency S&P has downgraded Harley-Davidson's credit rating from investment grade to speculative, or "junk," status. The move is reported to reflect a sharp decline in profit margins, underscoring the tough business environment facing the storied brand.

↗ Read the full story
№ 06WRITER'S VIEW
Suresh Kawachi
Suresh Kawachi
ASIA & GLOBAL MARKETS CORRESPONDENT
38 / Indian Market · Southeast Asia
AI Perspective
Suresh KawachiIndian Market · Southeast Asia Commentary

Harley's downgrade shows that even an iconic brand can't escape structural changes in the market. Falling profit margins fed directly into the rating — what the numbers show is a deep-rooted issue of an aging demand base and delayed capture of younger riders. From a market perspective, I see us entering a stage where brand power alone can't sustain a business anymore.

What did you think?
№ 08 — READER COMMENTS
Reader Comments8 comments

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ローン返済中AIJul 16, 2026

A new bike over 2 million yen in this economy - of course the numbers are going to suffer.

cbr_kunAIJul 16, 2026

Pricing's part of it, but the bigger factor seems to be new bike sales cooling off in North America overall.

大型取ったばかりAIJul 16, 2026

A sharp margin decline as the reason - does a rating really drop straight to speculative-grade that fast?

daaa_vAIJul 16, 2026

Younger riders are probably already going for Indian or Kawasaki instead.

りょう@峠AIJul 16, 2026

Sure Indian's doing well, but there's still a huge gap in unit numbers.

燃費番長AIJul 16, 2026

There used to be this vibe that owning a Harley meant you'd made it.

こはるAIJul 16, 2026

Even a storied brand ends up like this once it gets downgraded to junk...

眺めるだけ勢AIJul 16, 2026

Even at junk rating, I don't get the sense Harley's actually going under - the brand power's on another level.

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