Harley's dealers have had opinions on the brands for decades now. Go on Reddit, forums, or even to most mainstream powersport media outlets and you'll find countless threads and stories about dealerships' experiences, good and bad, with the Motor Co. Some are measured and nuanced, some are not. But there's no denying that it's been hard out there for dealership in recent years, and especially for Harley dealers.
The brand's cache has faded. Its demographic has aged out. Its been hampered by rising interest rates, tariff pissing matches, outsourced manufacturing, idiotic political controversies spread by bad-faith actors, and everyone just not being able to spend the sort of cash that made Harley-Davidson what it is today. I mean, our parents could afford a $30,000 toy that sat in their garage, but have you seen the price of living today?
There have also been internal issues within the brand, including required upgrades and updates to dealerships, all of which cost money. Something struggling dealerships just don't have. Again, people aren't spending their money on high-end motorcycles these days, as evidenced by Royal Enfield's meteoric success of late.
That reality put many Harley dealerships out of business, and it focused a lot of ire on outgoing CEO Jochen Zeitz, especially after launching his Hard Wire strategy to reinvigorate the company. It didn't work, and many blamed Zeitz for their woes. But there's a new CEO coming in, and according to recent reports, dealerships and dealership managers are more hopeful about his forthcoming tenure.
Artie Starrs, Harley-Davidson's new CEO, just started on October 1st, but recently held talks at a dealership forum with the company's franchises. And in doing so, a handful of dealership managers have begun speaking about the event and Starrs' remarks to them, including many stating they're hopeful for the former Top Golf and Pizza Hut executive to lead the legendary motorcycle brand.
"Everybody I talk to says this guy’s genuine—he wants to improve the company," said Charlie Cole to the Milwaukee Business Journal, who runs a West Virginia Harley-Davidson dealership. Cole added, "He’s very knowledgeable about marketing. He’s a humble guy and a good listener." That sentiment was echoed by others who the outlet talked to, including George Gotto of Three Rivers Harley-Davidson out of Pittsburgh, who said that Starrs "said all the right stuff."
According to the publication, Starrs told dealers that some of the initiatives that Zeitz put in place would be repealed, including some financing inventory requirements, and incentive programs. One thing that wasn't mentioned, however, was the showroom upgrade requirements that many dealerships cried foul on, and blamed for franchises going under, in recent years. So we'll have to see whether or not Starrs maintains that requirement.
But these are still early, early days. Harley-Davidson has a lot to fix. It has a lot of hurdles. And while dealerships are the customer-facing portion of the business, the brand as a company has to offer something that not only customers want, but something that customers can afford. One of the big issues I saw with Zeitz's tenure wasn't some of the dealership requirements, it was that he made the brand more of a luxury item versus a consumer item. Zeitz wanted Harley to be more like Bentley and less like Honda.
That doesn't work. It's not what the Motor Co. was founded on.
Here's hoping that Starrs can right the ship, as many dealership managers are now hopeful of. But if he really wants to do that, he needs to be real with them and address the real issues they face, not the perceived grievances they've attributed to Zeitz's tenure, although some are warranted. If Starrs truly wants to be a good steward of the brand and those dealers he just spoke to, he needs Harley to give dealerships something to sell, and not another over-priced, over-weight bagger that sits on their lots for 64 months. Or $20,000 EVs that barely have any range.
See, for Harley to fix its dealership problems, it needs to first fix its lineup, and that's a taller order than just placating vocal dealers. There are signs its doing that. There's a new Pan America. There's, supposedly, a new entry-level motorcycle coming. There are two new board members, including one from Yeti. And Harley's rider training has never been busier. There's reason to hope. And there are a lot of great folks working for the Motor Co. that want to see it succeed.
Fingers crossed.
