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Commitments and Contingencies | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Litigation and Other Claims – The Company is subject to lawsuits and other claims related to product, commercial, employee, environmental and other matters. In determining costs to accrue related to these items, the Company carefully analyzes cases and considers the likelihood of adverse judgments or outcomes, as well as the potential range of possible loss. The Company accrues for matters when losses are both probable and estimable. Any amounts accrued for these matters are monitored on an ongoing basis and are updated based on new developments or new information as it becomes available for each matter. The Company also maintains insurance coverage for product liability exposures. Except for the matters discussed separately below, the Company believes there are no material exposures to loss in excess of amounts accrued. Product Liability Matter – In August 2024, a jury awarded approximately $288 million in damages to the plaintiffs in a product lawsuit against the Company. The Company intends to appeal the matter and has recorded a liability for its estimated loss, which is lower than the amount awarded based on the Company's legal assessment of likely outcomes upon appeal. The Company has also recorded an asset reflecting its estimate of the insurance proceeds related to the estimated loss recognized for this matter. Given the remaining uncertainties associated with the resolution of this matter and the amount of the initial award, it is reasonably possible that the Company could incur a loss in excess of the liability recorded to date. The Company will pursue insurance recoveries for the ultimate loss related to this matter, including any loss amounts incurred in excess of the liability recorded to date. Supply Matters – During the second quarter of 2022, the Company received information from a Tier 2 supplier, Proterial Cable America, Inc. ("PCA" f/k/a Hitachi Cable America, Inc.), concerning a potential regulatory compliance matter relating to PCA's brake hose assemblies. As a result, out of an abundance of caution, the Company suspended all vehicle assembly and shipments for approximately two weeks during the second quarter of 2022. Since then, the Company has been working through the regulatory compliance matter with PCA, the Company’s relevant Tier-1 suppliers, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the agency responsible for brake hose assembly compliance in the United States. In connection with this matter, in July 2022, PCA notified NHTSA of a population of brake hose assemblies manufactured between May and July of 2022 that were non-compliant with select NHTSA laboratory test standards. Based on that filing, in August 2022, the Company notified NHTSA of the corresponding population of Harley-Davidson motorcycles containing those brake hose assemblies. In October 2022, PCA amended its original notification, expanding its population of non-compliant brake hose assemblies to include units produced by PCA for use in Harley-Davidson motorcycles beginning as early as model year 2008. In December 2022, the Company amended its August notification, expanding the population to also include Harley-Davidson motorcycles that contained PCA's newly identified brake hose assemblies. In March 2023, PCA again amended its NHTSA notification, identifying additional compliance issues with the previously identified brake hose assemblies. The Company followed PCA's March amendment with a derivative amended notification to NHTSA in May 2023. In June 2023, the Company received a letter from PCA advising that PCA was investigating a new, separate potential quality issue with brake hose assemblies produced by PCA after the Company’s 2022 production suspension. Due to this issue, the Company was forced to suspend production of most of the motorcycles manufactured at its York facility and run limited motorcycle manufacturing operations there for approximately two weeks. The Company continued to manufacture, among other motorcycles, the 2023 CVO Road Glide and Street Glide, which do not use PCA's brake hose assemblies. It also continued its normal motorcycle manufacturing operations at its international facilities. In connection with this matter, in late June 2023, PCA filed a new and separate NHTSA notification, identifying certain brake hose assemblies produced between June of 2022 and June of 2023 as noncompliant with select NHTSA laboratory test standards. The Company followed PCA’s June 2023 notification by filing a derivative notification with NHTSA in early July 2023. As permitted by federal law, both PCA and the Company have utilized NHTSA’s standard process to petition the agency to determine that these compliance issues are inconsequential to motor vehicle safety ("Inconsequentiality Determinations"). If NHTSA makes the Inconsequentiality Determinations requested, the Company will be exempt from conducting a field action or recall of its motorcycles related to these matters. In its inconsequentiality petitions, the Company has presented NHTSA with: (1) extensive independent, third-party and internal testing demonstrating that the brake hose assemblies at issue are robust to extreme conditions - which far exceed maximum expected motorcycle lifetime demands - with no impact to brake performance; and (2) real-world field safety data showing no documented crashes or injuries attributable to the identified compliance issues for the relevant affected populations. The Company believes its petitions are closely comparable to inconsequentiality petitions that have resulted in successful inconsequentiality determinations in the past. The Company is also confident that its position that the compliance issues are inconsequential to motor vehicle safety is strong and, therefore, no field action or recall will be necessary. Based on its expectation that NHTSA will make Inconsequentiality Determinations, the Company does not expect that these regulatory noncompliance matters will result in material costs in the future, and no costs have been accrued to date. However, it is possible that a field action or recall could be required that could cause the Company to incur material costs. There are several variables and uncertainties associated with any potential field action or recall that are not yet fully known including, but not limited to, the population of brake hose assemblies and motorcycles, the specific field action or recall required, the complexity and cost of the required repair, the need for and availability of replacement parts, the suppliers of replacement parts and the number of motorcycle owners that would participate. The Company estimates, based on its available information and assumptions, that the cost of a potential field action or recall in the aggregate, if any were to occur, could range from approximately $100 million to $400 million. The Company continues to evaluate and update its estimates as it learns more about these regulatory matters, including the variables and uncertainties discussed above. The Company also continues to maintain its expectation that NHTSA will make the requested Inconsequentiality Determinations and that these regulatory matters will not result in any material field action or recall costs. If a material field action or recall were to result, the Company would seek full recovery of those amounts.

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