Matt Levatich is scheduled to take over as the next CEO of Harley-Davidson, thus replacing Keith Wandell. Keith had been at the coveted post for the motorcycle manufacturer since the 1st of May, 2009. Matt will take responsibility on the same date, this year.
Levatich will have the luxury of inheriting the company at a much better stage than it was during the tenure of Wandell. Incidentally, Harley-Davidson has reported consecutive profits for six years in tandem, which shows how crucial has been the effect of Wandell on the company. In 2009, there was a period when Harley was laying off thousands of employees and was coming up with negative balance sheets due to a drooping market for its over expensive and heavyweight models. Industry experts had predicted at that time that the company was in a one-way track headed towards bankruptcy.
However, there are stiff challenges awaiting Matt as well, which also need to be overcome by the company as a whole. In North America, the sales are still trending flat. On the other hand, there is a stark increase in shipments to European and Asian countries, which has simultaneously focused the deficiencies in the US market. This also implies on the fact that the success of Harley-Davidson has a strong dependence on the relation between foreign currencies and the United States dollar. The overall shipments in the year 2014 reflected a number of 270726 units, which is almost a hike of 3.9 per cent than what was in 2013. The Asia-Pacific zone led the pack with nearly 11.8 per cent of the total shipments.
Levatich said, "We know that there are advances in technology in this space that are in the pipeline. We're pretty confident we'll get there. We're excited about this space, when you think about urbanization and sustainability and mobility."
The product line of Harley still focuses on heavy motorcycles, which are laden with an impressive torque output preferred by fans all over the world. However, the paradox remains that the highest popularity, potential growth and future prospects are on the shoulders of Sportster, the lightest of the pack and the recently launched Street series. The world still awaits an electric motorcycle from the brand that had been promised quite some time back by Harley. Levatich’s background in engineering might just be the key factor to hasten the production of this model and lead towards a more successful decade for this heritage motorcycle maker.
