Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2023

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. The Company believes that its accruals and insurance coverage are adequate and there are no material exposures to loss in excess of amounts accrued and insured for losses related to these matters.

Supply Matter – During the second quarter of 2022, the Company received information from a third-party sub-supplier concerning a potential regulatory compliance matter relating to the sub-supplier’s brake hose assemblies. As a result, out of an abundance of caution, the Company suspended all vehicle assembly and shipments (excluding LiveWire models, which did not utilize the brake hose assemblies at issue) for approximately two weeks during the second quarter of 2022. Since then, the Company has been working through the regulatory compliance matter with the sub-supplier, the Company’s relevant Tier-1 suppliers, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is the agency responsible for brake hose assembly compliance in the United States.

In connection with this matter, in July 2022, the sub-supplier notified NHTSA of a population of brake hose assemblies 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, the sub-supplier amended its original notification, expanding its population of non-compliant brake hose assemblies to include units produced by the sub-supplier 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 the sub-supplier’s newly identified brake hose assemblies. On March 30, 2023, the sub-supplier again amended its notification to NHTSA, identifying additional compliance issues with its brake hose assemblies. The Company is currently evaluating the sub-supplier’s latest amended notification and plans to again amend its notification to NHTSA to align with the sub-supplier’s amended notification.

As permitted by federal law, both the sub-supplier and the Company have leveraged NHTSA’s standard process to petition the agency for a determination that these compliance issues are inconsequential to motor vehicle safety (an “Inconsequentiality Determination”). If NHTSA makes the Inconsequentiality Determination requested, the Company will be exempt from conducting a field action or a recall of its motorcycles related to this matter.

In its inconsequentiality petition, the Company has presented (and plans to further present) 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. The Company believes its petition is closely comparable to inconsequentiality petitions which 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 an Inconsequentiality Determination, the Company does not expect that this matter will result in material costs in the future and no such 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 known including, but not limited to, the population of brake hose assemblies and motorcycles, the specific field action or recall required, the complexity of the required repair, and the number of motorcycle owners that would participate. Based on the Company’s information and assumptions, it estimates the cost of a potential field action or recall, if it were to occur, could range from approximately $200 million to $400 million. While the Company anticipates this estimated range to change based on information most recently provided by the sub-supplier, the Company cannot make a reasonable updated estimate at this time. The Company maintains its expectation that NHTSA will make an Inconsequentiality Determination and that this matter will not result in any material field action or recall costs. If material field action or recall costs were to result, the Company would seek full recovery of those amounts.