Harley Davidson

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Harley-Davidson tops Wall Street estimates

A sign outside Harley Davidson's headquarters in Milwaukee, July 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, file)

Harley-Davidson Inc. and Polaris Industries Inc. both posted profits that beat expectations, but high unemployment cast a pall over the former’s results.

Harley-Davidson’s beat stemmed from a higher operating profit at the company’s finance arm. Falling credit losses and cheaper borrowing costs at the unit helped offset continued softness in worldwide motorcycle sales.

Polaris’ beat resulted from a nearly 50 percent jump in sales of the company’s all-terrain vehicles, whose side-by-side seating plan has proved popular with buyers, including many farmers, who use the vehicle as a work vehicle. Get the full story »

Harley workers OK pay freeze, job cuts

The Harley- Davidson factory in Tomahawk, Wis., that makes Harley sidecars, windshields and other bike parts and accessories. (Rick Barrett/MCT)

Harley-Davidson workers in northern Wisconsin have approved a labor contract that freezes pay and cuts about 75 jobs at their plant while saving hundreds of other jobs.

Union president Frank Garrou says almost 300 workers at the plant in Tomahawk approved the deal Monday by a margin of about 70 percent to 30 percent. Get the full story »

New contract no job guarantee at Harley

Harley-Davidson Inc. could eliminate hundreds of jobs at its engine factory in Menomonee Falls, Wis., even if union workers ratify a seven-year labor agreement meant to keep the work in the Milwaukee area.

The company anticipates cutting 200 positions by the end of 2012, according to the proposed contract with United Steelworkers of America Local 2-209. That’s in addition to hundreds of jobs the company has eliminated in the Milwaukee area in the last two years. Get the full story »

Harley-Davidson workers to meet Tuesday

Harley-Davidson workers are gathering Tuesday to learn details of a proposed contract which includes concessions the company says will keep jobs in Wisconsin. Get the full story »

Harley, union have deal to keep it in Milwaukee

Harley-Davidson Motor Co. and its union leaders reached a proposed labor agreement Friday that could keep manufacturing operations and hundreds of jobs in Wisconsin.

The proposal still needs to be ratified by union workers and approved by the motorcycle company’s board. Workers are expected to vote on the contract Sept. 13. Get the full story »

Harley: Kansas City among choices for relocation

Harley-Davidson Inc. says Kansas City is one of the proposed cities where the motorcycle company might relocate some production.

Company spokesman Bob Klein said Friday a number of alternate sites remain on the table. He declined to say which other sites, or how many, are being considered. Get the full story »

Harley-Davidson threatens to leave Wisconsin

(Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)

It’s the roar that made Milwaukee famous — the distinctive throaty rumble of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. But that much-loved racket could be rumbling away to another state if the company cannot bring down its labor costs.

Harley-Davidson warned employees in April that it will move its Wisconsin manufacturing operations elsewhere if it cannot cut millions of dollars at the factories that build the bikes known as “Milwaukee Iron.” Get the full story »