HARLEY BOSS QUITS
Jochen Zeitz takes over as Acting President
of Harley Davidson Motorcycles
H
arley-Davidson CEO Matt Levatich has
announced he will be leaving his role at
the struggling American manufacturer
this month.
It’s been a long time coming in the eyes of
some, with Harley-Davidson shares reportedly
falling 46% in the years since Levatich took
charge and Harley bike sales in the US (arguably
the brand’s most important market) for 2019
the lowest in at least 16 years.
Taking over for Levatich will be H-D board
member Jochen Zeitz who becomes acting
president and CEO while a board search
committee is formed and Harley hires an outside
search firm to fill the job.
Levatich will stay on through March to assist
with the transition. Zeitz also was named board
chairman, replacing Michael Cave, who becomes
presiding director.
The departure of Levatich comes mid-way
through Harley-Davidson’s transitional period as
the brand tries to realign its product offerings
for the modern market.
With new water-cooled models set to launch
later this year based on the new Revolution Max
engine platform set to bring Harley into the
Streetfighter and Adventure segments, along
with the LiveWire due here in October, this is not
another sign of the imminent death of Harley-
Davidson some have made it out to be.
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