Harley-Davidson cutting more jobs

Weak consumer spending has hit the firm's sales

Harley-Davidson is cutting a further 1,000 employees as its profits continue to slump in the face of falling sales.

Net profits at the US motorcycle-maker fell to $19.8m (£12m) for the April to June quarter, down 91% from the $223m profit for the same period last year.

Its quarterly revenues declined 27% to $1.15bn and the firm warned that unit sales for 2009 as a whole may fall by almost a third.

The firm had previously announced up to 1,800 job cuts by the end of 2010.

'Tough environment'

Harley-Davidson, which currently has more than 9,000 workers in total, is continuing with major cost-cutting work.

"It is obviously a very tough environment for us right now, given the continued weak consumer spending in the overall economy for discretionary purchases," said Harley-Davidson chief executive Keith Wandell.

The firm also confirmed that it would make a decision on the future of its main assembly plaint in York, Pennsylvania by the end of the year.

In May, Harley-Davidson said it was considering closing the uncompetitive plant and moving production elsewhere.

Harley-Davidson now expects to ship between 212,000 and 228,000 new motorcycles this year, down from 303,479 in 2008.