Head of Harley-Davidson's finance arm resigns

The Associated Press January 8, 2009, 7:15PM ET

MILWAUKEE

Harley-Davidson Inc. said Thursday the head of its financial services unit resigned and its chief financial officer will lead the division on an interim basis.

The Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker said in a news release that Sy Naqvi made a personal decision to resign from Harley-Davidson Financial Services, which he joined as president in February 2007.

The company said Tom Bergmann, Harley's chief financial officer, will take on the added responsibility as president of HDFS, while it seeks a full-time replacement.

Chief Executive Jim Ziemer said he was confident in Bergmann's ability to lead HDFS.

"In the current economic environment, HDFS is an especially important priority for us and Tom has been highly involved in guiding that business," he said, according to the statement.

Bergmann, who became Harley's CFO in 2006, had been chief executive of USF Corp., a $2.5 billion publicly traded transportation and logistics company.

He also has worked as corporate controller and vice president of finance for financial services at Sears, Roebuck and Co., and in senior level positions at The St. Paul Companies Inc. and Johnson & Johnson.

The motorcycle maker is facing slumping sales as consumers cut spending. On Wednesday, Raymond James analyst Joseph D. Hovorka downgraded the company and estimated its fourth-quarter U.S. sales will decline by a percentage in the low- to mid-20s, a bigger drop than the third-quarter's, of 15.5 percent.

Last month Harley said in a Securities and Exchange filing that it received a one-time advance of $500 million for HDFS, which makes loans to consumers and offers wholesale lending to the company's dealers.

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D95J9G5G0.htm

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