Who is the ceo of harley davidson
Harley-Davidson names Jochen Zeitz president and CEO
Hey guys, this is Dan with gears and gadgets. Thanks for tuning in so the last couple weeks
I've been really busy editing these videos with the Find Your Freedom interns
I have two more to go to post on the channel
But today there were some pretty big news in the world of Harley Davidson. It's the new CEO Jochen Zeitz who was named today
As that new CEO, he's been the interim since the departure of Matt Levatich and right off the bat
I believe there's gonna be a lot of people that are kind of confused by this and probably a little bit defensive
Maybe of the harley-davidson brand Jochen Zeitz was the former CEO of Puma a shoe company
And I've already seen it in the comments down below of people that say. Oh great
You know, what's a guy with a shoe company know about motorcycles, but what I have to say
Is that in the last week or so I've seen some glimmers of hope here and after doing a little more research today
I'm even more optimistic of this new CEO
Now Jochen Zeitz. Yes, he was a CEO of Puma from
1993 to
2007 but when they were bought out and
he really turned that company around and did great things and
He also was a co-founder and this is where things get a little bit more
Positive in my opinion. He was the co-founder of B-Team with
another guy named Sir Richard Branson who obviously very widely commonly known name but
very very smart businessman and they founded this this B team organization as
it's really a forward-thinking type organization looking at business that really isn't working any longer and
Taking a fresh new approach to to solving kind of some old problems and it it seems very promising
I'll link it down below. You can read it for yourself
But to me, it just seems like something that Harley-Davidson is in a great need for right now
So seeing that makes me a little bit more optimistic and then combining that with the rewire that was announced last week
I wanted to do a video on that last week
but
it seemed very
premature and
probably to be honest with you still is a little bit but what I have seen in the last week since that announcement is the
Pan America and the Bronx which were both slated for 2020 releases have been pushed to 2021
I saw that just on their website today
The dates have changed and then they also have the custom for 2021
So 2021 is gonna be a big year for Harley-Davidson for new bikes and new models
We're already kind of almost there. So
With the way things are today. It makes sense to pump the brakes
There's a huge regime change and with it, you know the current economy
I don't see really putting any bikes out today seems probably not smart
For the sake of people are gonna be holding onto their money
I would think for the next six to eight months and see how everything shakes out
now one of the other things I noticed today in preparing for this video is if you go to the Harley Davidson
Investor website the very first page they have basically they outlined their entire strategy
now back in 20 late 2017 early 2018 Harley Davidson announced this big initiative that by
2027 they were gonna have 4 million new riders. Which fine that's a good number
But then there was a hundred new models and they called it high impact models
So when they say that at first when I heard a hundred new models, it's like okay
so a different kind of Street Glide different packages and they're gonna get to that hundred by just kind of
adding some things on to the bikes that they currently already sell but when they say high-impact models to me that meant like
Nearly a hundred new motorcycles in ten years which seems reckless in my opinion
I mean they already have a great formula of bikes that they have today
But I really just think are stale and kind of in need of some modern innovation
And really kind of just a facelift so that hundred bike thing really since I saw that it back in 2017
Really kind of rubbed me the wrong way. So
I'm happy now to report that as of today, all of those goals are wiped off of that that page so
Apparently they are now deciding that they're really going to retool this rewire is a complete
Retooling of their whole mission as a motorcycle company. So for anybody out there who's thinking? Okay great
We have a new guy in town and they can get rid of the livewire because I hate that bike it was the worst idea
It's not gonna happen. I'm happy. It's not gonna happen. I I'm saying this based on what I'm looking at, but
Jochen Zeitz part of that B-Team organization that he co-founded is all about
sustainability and and
Kind of a responsible approach to business as well. And obviously it's 2020 going into the future
Eevee's are here to stay they're not going anywhere and
Harley-davidson is absolutely going to cement its name and that that whole platform
So I do hope that what this means is that they can find a way to quickly roll out. Whatever
Livewire 2.0 is going to be at a much more friendly price point
And they can maybe right the ship of the narrative that the livewire is just too expensive and nobody wants to buy it
Which I also think was an intentional move
But that's I've said that before I'll kind of leave that leave that alone for this one
But I think the livewire is here to stay. I do really kind of hold out
hope now that Jochen Zeitz will be able to
Find a way to make
Harley-Davidson
appeal to a younger generation all while not alienating the older generation because they are a huge portion of if not
The majority portion of the brand but they can't be forever. It's just simply not sustainable
so what I really hope to see in the next couple years is a
Real good, refresh of the touring bikes
Bring them up to speed with just modern things and I'll just the cheap easy low-hanging fruit as LEDs and all that stuff
But really just even look at the two wearing bikes
completely differently and
Don't fear the core customer to the point where it stifles innovation
If they can come out with an aluminum frame
the carbon-fiber frame something totally different
Than what they've been doing for the last 50 years
Would be really awesome to see them do that because you will always have the old people complain
It doesn't matter what you do anybody
Especially when you talk about a brand as familiar as Harley Davidson
if you make one little tiny change people are going to complain about but the best part about that is that if it's a good
Product they come back around so it's a great way to get younger people back into and interested in to what you're doing
and then as the old people complain and come to find out that
The new thing is that much better then they come and they start spending their money as well
So I'm really hoping that's kind of the path that harley-davidson is gonna go down
I also think that Matt Leavitt itch did set the table well for a bit of a revitalization the 2018
Softtail line is is awesome. It has rave reviews
I love my heritage really seems to be that that new platform is just a real winner
The Milwaukee eight seems to be proving its place as a great power plant
And of course the new bikes that are coming out with the liquid-cooled revolution max that's gonna be a big deal
so these were all things that were brought in from the mavet it regime and I think they're going to be a big component to
setting the table for
Things to be turned around so I don't really anticipate a lot of the projects that are publicly known right now being shelved. I
do see maybe of some things that we might not even know about yet that they're just gonna totally pump the brakes on for the
Next couple years as they just try to well as I say rewire
the current operation as it is it would be really nice just to see them kind of slow down for a minute and
Focus I'll say like Marcus Lemonis
which is
you know people in process are like the two most important things and I think that for Harley Davidson both those
Have been a little bit broken and I do think for the last I don't know 10 years
The sales kind of show it I I do think that there's a lot of disenfranchised customers out there. I know it because they are
Very much a frequent on this channel
But it's something that I think Harley Davidson really should just focus on the people and process over the next couple of years
Fine-tune as much as they possibly can
And then really just look at things a little bit differently and start focusing on the appeal to the younger generation
So with all that being said, I personally am actually excited to see what Jochen Zeitz can do with Harley Davidson
They don't anticipate anything groundbreaking in 2020
But with a lot of these product launches coming up in 2021 that is going to be very exciting
I also like the fact that I've seen in the last week or so where they said
They're no longer gonna announce products at the end of the year. They're gonna start announcing products right before writing season. I really hope
really hope that this means they are going to be able to announce a product and
That day have people go to the dealership and put money down for that new bike that's going to be in the dealership in two
Months from now and really start kind of encouraging people
Get that spur of the moment kind of decision going
Where they see these products and say I need to have that the day comes out
Not have to see it and then say oh
I'm not gonna buy it now she's gonna snow for the next four months and you know,
Just you lose a lot of people by that losing that sense of immediacy. So
I'm really excited that they're doing that
I think it just makes the most amount of sense probably always should have been done that way
I don't totally know why it wasn't
I'm sure there's a reason for but with all that being said I'm really excited about this. Can't wait to see where this goes
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