New structures at Harley-Davidson

Content overview:

It was about a year ago that there were first signs that there would be some changes in the Harley-Davidson Milwaukee management team. Already at Christmas 2019, a top-level employee in the USA left the company, and that was just the beginning, as the head of Europe, Middle-East and Africa, Dr. Christian Arnezeder, also left the company in February 2020 after a good two decades.

That alone caused a lot of unrest and when the news came at the end of February that the director Matt Levatich was leaving the company, the ship had not only sailed into the beginning of one of the biggest pandemics without a sail, but also without a captain.

The share price was already on a dive in December 2019 and only stopped at €14. These were very bad and dangerous times for Harley-Davidson and it continued into March. With such an extreme drop in the share price, you quickly become a takeover candidate; normally, the share price was always around €33.

Jochen Zeitz got a tailwind from the shareholders

Jochen Zeitz took over the management position in March 2020 and was only provisionally confirmed as President and Chief Executive Officer in May. This announcement alone caused the share price to slowly rise again. A new captain has signed on to a masterless ship without a port, or let's put it this way, the new port was now in Thailand.

Harley-Davidson had decided to have most Harley-Davidson models assembled in Asia for the European market in future in order to avoid the punitive tariffs imposed by the EU. Trump was not at all enthusiastic about these plans and called for a boycott of the Harley-Davidson brand. However, he did not help the company in advance either, as Harley-Davidson paid the punitive tariffs for the EU market itself.

It will be interesting to see whether an agreement will be reached in the trade dispute between the EU and the USA under Biden. The withdrawal of US troops from Germany has now been halted by Congress and on January 20, 2021, Joe Biden will take over the presidency from Donald Trump. Thailand can't really be the solution for the Harley-Davidson brand, as they are by no means the only ones in the sector to have production there, but the transportation route to Europe is also not cheap and takes even longer. They always say that time is money.

Current Harley-Davidson share price

Kolja Rebstock takes the lead in the EU, Middle East and Africa.

But back to Jochen Zeitz's tasks, because not only did he have the pandemic on his shoulders in spring 2020, but everything in Europe was also upside down. Brexit proved to be a particular challenge, as Oxford is the headquarters for Harley-Davidson Europe. After Dr. Christian Arnezeder stepped down, Niels Kleinlooh from the Netherlands became the temporary boss in Europe; he is normally involved in marketing and, as it stands, is now taking over Kolja Rebstock this item.

He is a former manager of Mercedes-Benz and Mitsubishi. Kolja Rebstock will manage the Harley-Davidson business in the EU, Middle East and Africa. Kolja Rebstock will bring with him the necessary experience, having already been in charge of development and sales at Mercedes-Benz 23 years ago. A man with international experience who is now expected to move to Harley-Davidson.

But what's next for Harley-Davidson in general?

Jochen Zeitz has announced that 30 % of the planned new models from the More Roads to Harley-Davidson project. In future, new products will only be presented in spring and some sales channels, such as South America, will be discontinued or switched to external ones. He will streamline the company and completely reorganize it. This already started on the website of Harley-Davidson There is now a better overview of those responsible with more information about the respective people. The company presents a more modern and open image to the outside world.

In Germany, Grünecker Patent- und Rechtsanwälte take over the protection of Harley-Davidson's trademark rights

Harley-Davidson has commissioned a new law firm in Munich to take care of the protection of trademark rights in the summer of 2020. The aim is of course to protect authorized dealers, because anyone who wants to have the Bar & Shield logo hanging above their workshop has to pay for it. It seems obvious that a seller will be warned if someone produces or sells Harley saddlebags with the brand's trademarks but is not an authorized dealer and others have to pay license fees.

The amount in dispute is usually around €500,000, and it's not just about bags, but also naming rights. Harley-Davidson will clean up in various areas, especially where they need to protect their dealers and in areas where they want to reposition themselves.

There will be changes in the areas of financing, travel, parts and accessories. Harley-Davidson will work more on customer loyalty, including the promotion of the Harley-Davidson credit card, which is currently handled by Santander Bank. It is not yet known to what extent this will change, but Harley-Davidson wants to become the most sought-after motorcycle brand in the world and be even more connected to its customers.

And this can be achieved by offering the customer everything in one package, because travel is also part of this. For years, there have been the somewhat neglected Harley-Davidson Authorized Tours, However, there are many free riders in this area, and anyone who carelessly chooses a Harley-Davidson trip can expect to receive mail from the new lawyer if they do not belong to the authorized organizers. Website operators and garages are well advised in future not to use protected word marks for their domains or offers, as this could be expensive.

There are fewer discount and promotion campaigns

There will be fewer promotions, it sounds as if Harley-Davidson wants to focus more on the CVO concept, with the focus on maintaining the value of the respective products, which could be achieved through individual models ex works, which actually sounds quite good and interesting for the customer.

Concentration on 50 markets in North America, Europe and parts of the Asia/Pacific region

That says it all, Harley-Davidson will be shifting some resources to increase efficiency. This could particularly affect models such as the Street 750. In short, everything that doesn't work will be thrown out, a real look at the figures will mean the end for stationary models. Let's see what happens in the long term with the LiveWire, the electric Harley-Davidson. This is not necessarily a must-have for the current clientele.

Pan America is given high priority

Pan America has become a very high priority at Harley-Davidson, and for the first time Harley-Davidson has even advertised on RTL during prime time. They are breaking new ground here, which certainly can't hurt.

You have to hand it to Jochen Zeitz, he stabilized the brand's share price when he took over as CEO. Since then, the share price has returned to the 29 to 34 euro range. In the end, it's not just about satisfied customers, but also about satisfied shareholders, because otherwise the lights will go out quickly and we don't want that!

Text Harleysite 05.01.2021