Manufacturing · Profile from Manufacturing Research Companion: Companies, Strategic Moves, and Technical Studies

Harley-Davidson

The Milwaukee, Wisconsin maker of heavyweight motorcycles, founded in 1903, whose bikes are built mainly in York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and sold to a loyal, ageing, mostly American customer base. Harley-Davidson is the US manufacturing story in which trade policy cut both ways. In 1983 the ITC's Section 201 safeguard on imported heavyweight motorcycles — 45% in the first year, declining over five years — gave a company just bought back from AMF time to adopt Japanese quality and just-in-time methods, and in Mar 1987 Harley asked for the tariff to end early, saying "We no longer need tariff relief to compete" (Vaughn Beals, reported). Thirty-five years later, in Jun 2018, the EU raised its tariff on US-made motorcycles from 6% to 31% in response to the US Section 232 steel and aluminium tariffs, and Harley said it would move production for EU customers out of the US, estimating ~$90–100m a year of extra cost (~$2,200 a bike) (company, reported). In between and after lie the product questions that mattered more: an ageing rider base, the Kansas City closure and York consolidation (announced Jan 2018), a plant in Thailand, Jochen Zeitz's "Hardwire" retreat to the core (2020–21), the LiveWire electric spin-off through a SPAC (2022) that in Oct 2026 warned of substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern (reported), and a new CEO, Artie Starrs, from Oct 2025 (reported). The motorcycle sells the brand; the brand must find younger riders.

At a glance

Founded: 1903, Milwaukee, by William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson, joined by Walter and William A. Davidson (from memory, verify)
Headquarters: Juneau Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (from memory, verify)
Ownership / structure: Public (NYSE: HOG, from memory, verify). Owns ~90% of LiveWire Group (NYSE: LVWR) (reported, Oct–Nov 2026)
Leadership (2026): Artie Starrs, president and CEO from Oct 2025, formerly CEO of Topgolf and of Pizza Hut (effective 1 Oct 2025 per the 2026 proxy; V2 check); succeeded Jochen Zeitz (chair from 2020 and CEO 2020–25, from memory for the start date)
Segments: Harley-Davidson Motor Company (HDMC) — motorcycles, parts and accessories, apparel; LiveWire — electric motorcycles and balance bikes; Harley-Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) — dealer and retail financing (from memory, verify segment structure)
Scale: Q3 2026 (8-K, 29 Oct 2026): HDMC worldwide shipments 33,616 motorcycles (−8% y/y); HDMC revenue ~$964m (−10%, one secondary summary, verify vs 8-K); North American retail sales +9%, global retail +5%; dealer inventory −26% y/y; net income $42.8m ($0.40 a share) vs $377.4m ($3.10) in Q3 2025; HDFS operating income ~$11m vs ~$439m a year earlier; full-year HDMC shipment guidance raised to 135,500–139,000 units (company, reported)
Plants: York, Pennsylvania (vehicle assembly); Menomonee Falls and Tomahawk, Wisconsin (powertrain and components) (from memory, verify); Rayong, Thailand (assembly, opened 2018, from memory for the year); Kansas City, Missouri (closed after the Jan 2018 announcement); Manaus, Brazil (assembly, from memory, verify)
Signature moves (incl. failures): Founding (1903); the AMF buyback (1981); the Section 201 safeguard and turnaround (1983–87); the Kansas City closure and York consolidation (2018); the EU retaliation and EU-bound production (2018); the Thailand plant (2018); Rewire and Hardwire under Zeitz (2020–21); the LiveWire SPAC spin-off (2022, failing by 2026)

8 strategic moves analysed

Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.

1903
Founding in Milwaukee
Founding
1981
AMF Buyback
Financing (management buyout, leveraged)
1983
Section 201 Tariff and the Turnaround
Trade remedy (Section 201 safeguard petition) and production-system change (JIT and quality)
2018
EU Retaliation and Moving EU Bound Production
Offshoring (shifting production for EU customers from US plants to international plants) in response to a tariff
2018
Kansas City Closure and York Consolidation
Footprint consolidation (plant closure and transfer of production)
2018
Rayong Thailand Plant
New plant (assembly, greenfield) for Asian markets
2020
Rewire and Hardwire under Zeitz
Strategy pivot (retreat to the core: fewer models, fewer markets, higher prices and margins)
2022
LiveWire SPAC Spin Off
Spin-off or IPO (merger with a special-purpose acquisition company); technology bet (failure by 2026)

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