Did you know that Puma was once on the verge of bankruptcy, and one gentleman steered and helped make it profitable with sales of 4 billion USD? Leading to its stock price skyrocketing by 4000 %! And that man is Jochen Zeitz, now the President, CEO and Chairman of Board of Harley-Davidson Inc. which is also powering the LiveWire, its flagship EV brand. Harley-Davidson is an iconic brand with a cult following and undoubtedly the most desirable motorcycle brand in the world by any measure. Ramesh Somani caught up with him exclusively on his first visit to India as the CEO of Harley-Davidson.
Ramesh Somani: Harley-Davidson has stuck to its roots ever since. How has that changed with the changing lifestyle and the changing landscape? How are things shaping up globally for you?
Jochen Zeitz: We've been around for 120 years. We've seen a lot of changing landscapes, and so there's always the next generation that you need to get excited to ride motorcycles, which is why we've introduced the X440 in India to introduce the next generation of riders to the Harley life, before they graduate to bigger Harleys.
RS: So, Harley's journey has had many strategic overhauls, right? From Rewire to Hardwire but has the brand finally found its game?
JZ: Over 120 years, you need different strategies to succeed. It cannot be just one strategy. And the Rewire was setting us up for Hardwire. It was in the 2020 pandemic where we had to close our factory, like everybody else. And I felt it was necessary to rewire the business. build a new foundation based on which we could then launch a new strategy, which was the Hardwire.
Bu hikaye BBC TopGear India dergisinin August 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye BBC TopGear India dergisinin August 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Does It Fly?
2024 TVS APACHE RR 310 ₹2.75 Lakh - ₹2.97 Lakh (ex-showroom)
Is It A Scooter? Is It A Bike? No! It Is The BMW CE 02
It is rare when you come across a moment where a company brings out a vehicle into the market without knowing who exactly they want to sell it to.
Aston Martin Valkyrie
The Aston Martin Valkyrie still looks like nothing else on four wheels. Probably because it isn’t.
ONE-MAN BAND
We are a cynical bunch of people as we try our best to narrow down our vision and focus on the things that are lacking.
CRISIS AVERTED! THE EXISTENTIAL KIND
Finally, the Yezdi Adventure won’t be suffering from an existential crisis anymore.
ROYAL ENFIELD HIMALAYAN
ALTHOUGH IT IS A PERENNIAL ORDEAL FOR ANY MOTORCYCLIST to feel sad while parting ways with a motorcycle, it became even sadder for me this time around.
TVS APACHE RTR 310
THE FIRST THING I WANT TO SAY IS - “IT IS A MENACE ON WHEELS”.
ACE OF BASE
What happens when you take Porsche's old school entry level model and give it a very not entry level upgrade? This is a 914 as you've never seen it before
MOMS KNOW BEST
Volvo's XC90 was the stereotypical Soccer Mom car. So how will the all-electric EX90 be received among the soccer pitches of Orange County?
THE THEORYOF EVOLUTION
Ridged bladder seats, an inflating steering wheel and an AI track day coach... has Lotus hit on the supercar’s future, or gone mad’?