Harley-Davidson has announced that the company's CEO, Jochen Zeitz, will be stepping down from his role at the end of 2025. The company’s Board of Directors has confirmed that it has already started looking for a replacement CEO for the interim period.
- Jochen Zeitz took over as CEO in 2020
- He shifted H-D’s focus to its core business and EVs
- The Hero-Harley partnership was inked during his leadership
Zeitz took over as CEO from Matthew Levatich during one of the toughest periods the automotive industry experienced in recent years – the Covid-19 pandemic. Project Hardwire was Zeitz’s brainchild, wherein he reshifted Harley-Davidson’s focus onto two main things. The first was the core cruiser, bagger and big touring bikes, which are the cornerstone of the Motor Co’s business model. The second was to set up a dedicated division for electric mobility, which came to fruition as the company Livewire we know today.
Under Zeitz’s leadership, Harley-Davidson also entered into a partnership with Hero to develop small-capacity, affordable machines aimed squarely at the emerging Asian markets. Under that partnership, Hero has introduced the Harley-Davidson X440 as well as its own spinoff, the Mavrick 440.
That being said, the motorcycle industry post-pandemic has been a rather lean one, with expensive motorcycles (such as big Harleys and the Livewire electric bikes) consistently seeing downward sales trends. Another factor to consider is the recent tariff impositions that US President Donald Trump. It remains to be seen who steps into Zeitz’s shoes and which direction they steer this fabled brand toward.
Hormazd Sorabjee
Anurag Chaturvedi
