Tag Archives: Harley-Davidson Strategy

let’s rewind the clock a bit. When confronted with aging demographics and market headwinds by any other name, former H-D CEO, Matt Levatich launched an initiative he called “more roads to Harley-Davidson”. He promised something like 100 new Harley models, plans to attract younger riders, and so on. We know that the Pan America we see today is the fruit of this labor. We also know, after several quarters of negative press, Levatich left the Motor Company. His replacement, Jochen Zeitz, countered with “Project Rewire” and “Project Hardwire”. Most of which is a bunch of corporate buzzword jargon to send messages to savvy traders and snow the public wherever possible. In short, Zeitz directed the company to slash spending, slash offerings, and stifle supply to boost margins and keep the stock price aloft through “very, very careful management of inventory”. Continue reading →