Edel O’Sullivan: Yes, James. I think that the comparison point of 2019 is important. There are — as Jochen mentioned, a couple of differences in terms of where we are now more broadly in the business cycle than in 2019. So, the first thing that I would say is undoubtedly we have been working throughout the quarter, certainly since the production shutdown, to make sure that we are adjusting our overall inventory levels. And again, it’s less about the total units which are still down versus 2019 than it is about the mix of the units in the channel. And that’s something that we certainly continue to hold as a very key principle of our overall hardwire strategies to make sure that we have adequate representation. The second element, and it really isn’t to be sort of underestimated, is the impact of the delay and the mix of what we were able to produce particularly in the early part of the quarter, against our retail objectives.
So that is something where we believe many of those units, particularly the CVOs, are still units that have the potential for retail in the year. So that is something to take into account as we look at the full 2023. But that is certainly a factor that we have been working through in the back half of the year. The third fact that I would note that this is again, a difference versus 2019 in the cadence of the year overall. We have stopped production of 2023 units as of this week. We will continue to ship those obviously as they finish up and we load plan, et cetera, and match them to dealer demand. But essentially that is a big distinction versus our business cycle in 2019 where we would’ve continued shipping units well into Q4 as sort of full force.
We are deliberately tapering down that production as we get ready for 2024. And then the final point that I would make, and this is something that we have certainly learned this year with the change of our model year to the beginning of the calendar year, we intend to be fully ready for 2024 across all of the families, and particularly those where we have seen very high demand. Trike was referenced early in the conversation, and where we have struggled, quite frankly all year to meet that demand in a timely fashion and a heavily seasonal business. And we want to be ready for 2024. We want to be ready for that ramp-up. We believe inventory has an important role in supporting the beginning of the year. And if you look at it through that lens, we are in a meaningfully different position than we were in 2019.
So those are a couple of the different factors that we are weighing and balancing. So certainly, working through it, trying to get the mix right, which is our most important consideration. Managing the total units obviously important this year, given the extra cost for the dealers. But ensuring above all that with the different production cadence, we are ready and prepared for the start of the season in a heavily, heavily seasonal business.
James Hardiman: And if I may, can I just clarify, I mean to this mixed question and the wind-down of sportster. So, the SKU count versus 2019 is what it sounds like the SKU count is actually down, so that should help bring down inventories, correct. Or am I not thinking about that the right way?
Edel O’Sullivan: Yeah, when I refer to mix, I refer to mix both within and across families. So, the balance relatively between, for example, our soft tail family and our trike family versus what we have within the touring family, those are some of the input. Those were, that balance is one that is not exactly or has not been exactly what we would’ve wanted across Q3. And even within something like our touring family, 55% of our portfolio, there is a relative balance of some of our higher-end, more complex units, our STs, and our specials versus our base world glides, and street glides, all of those individual units given supply disruption and then potentially even the change, in consumer preferences and affordability throughout the year are units that we try to correct.
And I should note all of this is in the context of manufacturing realities. Transforming sort of the mix, of a manufacturing facility within the year is not an easy task. So, it is progressive and that’s what we have been doing throughout the back half of the year to make sure that we have the right combination of families and then even models within those families, to prepare ourselves and to more closely match where demand is.
James Hardiman: Understood. I can appreciate it. It’s not an easy task, so I appreciate the color. Thanks guys.
Edel O’Sullivan: Thank you.
Operator: There are no further questions at this time. This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you all for joining and you may now disconnect.
