With a 58 percent fall in profit - the weak demand bringing on its 12-year lowest - for the fourth quarter, Harley-Davidson Inc, the biggest motorcycle maker in the US, Friday announced its plans to come to grips with the economic downturn.

The company, based in Milwaukee, said that it intends 1,100 job-cuts over a two-year period, along with the closure of three of its plants and consolidation of some others. As a result of the dropped demand, the company will ship up to 13% fewer motorcycles in
2009.

The measures announced will result in one-time charges of $110-million to $140-million over two years. After the company is through with those charges, the cuts will yearly save between $60-million and $70-million per year.

Harvey's net income for the fourth quarter fell from a year-earlier $186.1 million, or 78 cents, to $77.8 million, or 34 cents. Its revenue dropped 6.8 per cent to $1.29-billion from $1.39-billion.

The 90 cents, or 7.3 percent, fall in the company's stock - to $11.50 in the New York Stock Exchange composite trading - is its lowest level since June 1997. The 57 cents per-share earnings fell short of the average estimates by seventeen analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

In a conference call, Jim Ziemer, the CEO of Harley - the maker of cruisers like Fat Boy and others - said: "We have a strong core business anchored by a uniquely powerful brand, but we are certainly not immune to the current economic conditions."