Pan America Jumps Ahead to Sales Lead

Production Cycle

Thinking about getting a Pan America? It may not happen this year. In late August 2021, Harley-Davidson issued a press release stating that the Pan America 1250 Special is the best-selling adventure-touring motorcycle in North America. That claim was followed with the announcement that the 2021 production cycle of the Pan America is now sold out.

Goal Reach

While this is great news for the Motor Company, the best-selling claim is a bit vague. The press release reads as follows, “With the Pan America Special now the #1 selling ADV motorcycle model in North America, we targeted a selective expansion into adventure touring as part of the Hardwire Strategy with the goal to reach new and existing Harley-Davidson customers.”

>>Join the conversation on the Pan America right here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

Future Category

CEO Jochen Zeitz immediately followed the good news with the 'sold out' announcement. He stated, “Those who now own or have tested one of our Pan America’s absolutely love this bike—having sold out of our 2021 allocation, we are excited about what the future has in store for Pan America and for the Adventure Touring category at Harley-Davidson.”

>>Join the conversation on the Pan America right here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

Secret Figures

Most moto media outlets simply reposted Harley-Davidson's top rank sales claim without question. This was not the case for Motorcycle.com. They asked,”But is it true?” followed by, “That’s hard to say for certain, but we’ll try our best to find out.” While their results were inconclusive, it reveals the secretive nature of motorcycle sales figures in North America.

>>Join the conversation on the Pan America right here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

Continued Momentum

Harley-Davidson actually made a similar best-selling claim about the Pan America a month before the press release. During the Q2 2021 earnings call, Zeitz stated that the Pan America was “the number one selling adventure-touring model in the U.S. in the months of May and June.” Apparently, sales in July and August continued that momentum.

>>Join the conversation on the Pan America right here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

Specific Data

The best source of information that could confirm Harley-Davidson’s claim is the Motorcycle Industry Council—a not-for-profit national trade association that represents manufacturers, retailers, distributors, and other Powersports-related businesses. Most of the major motorcycle companies are members of the MIC. The association periodically releases broad industry sales figures but keeps more specific data a closely guarded secret.

>>Join the conversation on the Pan America right here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

Claim Caveat

The other mitigating factor is that MIC statistics only include U.S. sales figures. Canadian sales represent about 7% of the overall industry numbers. Now, Harley-Davidson is a MIC member, and if their claim was false, they would be called out quickly. However, there is a caveat to the best-selling news—the figures apply only to ADV bikes that are 600cc and over.

>>Join the conversation on the Pan America right here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

Pack Units

Harley-Davidson's Q2 report shows that just over 4,000 Pan America bikes were shipped by the end of June 2021. Using the unlikely source of product recalls from other manufacturers, the numbers place Harley-Davidson about a thousand units ahead of the pack. All things considered, it would be fair to say that the Pan America Special is technically the best-selling ADV bike in North America.

>>Join the conversation on the Pan America right here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

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