Think back, if you will, to July of 2024. That's when Japan's Federal Trade Commission first raided Harley-Davidson Japan's offices and placed the subsidiary of the American company under formal investigation.
At issue: Allegations of excessive quotas placed on dealerships under contract to Harley Japan, which had been in place since around 2020. According to those allegations, dealers were told that if they did not meet the ever-increasing sales quotas, they could lose their contracts and face non-renewal in the future.
This reportedly led to a domino effect, whereby dealers would have no choice but to purchase bikes (even bikes they didn't want, and that wouldn't necessarily sell well in their local market) themselves in order to meet the increasingly onerous quotas. Japanese law then designated such bikes as "unused, registered" motorcycles, which meant they lost value. So, even if the dealers went on to sell those bikes to customers later on, they often did so at a loss.
Not really a great way to do business if you're one of those dealers, is it?
Fast forward to the end of June 2025, and Japan's Fair Trade Commission will impose a 200 million yen (approximately US $1.4 million at the time of writing) fine on Harley-Davidson Japan for these quotas, reports Nikkei Asia.
Furthermore, the FTC will issue a cease-and-desist order to Harley Japan, ordering it to discontinue such behavior as it has been found to be in violation of the country's Anti-Monopoly Law, adds the Asahi Shimbun.
Interestingly, the Japanese trade watchdog also slapped BMW Japan with a similar punishment in 2021, for very similar behavior. Perhaps a little too coincidentally, executives who had previously been involved with BMW Japan went on to work at Harley-Davidson Japan after the BMW case had been brought. Reportedly, it's around this time that Harley dealers in Japan received the excessive quotas that have resulted in the current fine and punishment by the FTC against Harley-Davidson Japan.
However, two of the top brass involved with both BMW and Harley during these similar behavioral practices that were both met with similar FTC punishments reportedly also resigned after the aforementioned Harley Japan investigation in July 2024.
It's unclear whether they may try to institute similar behavior a third time, with a third company, but we'll be sure to keep an eye out for any additional stories that sound a little too familiar in the future. Between you and me, here's hoping they don't.
