President

Tariff truce may spare iconic US products from huge price hikes

General Posts / By

by Jenny Leonard from https://financialpost.com U.S. and EU Set to Reach Temporary Tariff Truce Over Metals Iconic American products affected by EU countertariffs include Harley-Davidson Inc. motorcycles, Levi Strauss & Co. jeans and bourbon whiskey. Business associations and lawmakers have asked that the U.S. lift the duties, saying they do more harm than good. The Biden administration is set to announce it’s reached a truce in a dispute with the European Union over metal tariffs, sparing iconic products such as U.S. bourbon whiskey from a doubling of EU duties next month, people familiar with the matter said. A resolution could be announced as soon as Monday, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. At issue is a high-profile dispute that started in 2018 under former President Donald Trump, in which the U.S. imposed duties on steel and aluminum from Europe, Asia and elsewhere over risks to American national security. The EU has since retaliated and on June 1 was set to double tariffs on a list of American products to 50%. Under the agreement with the Biden administration, the EU will refrain from increasing those tariffs and both sides will engage in a dialog on steel overcapacity, according to the people. The European Union had previously proposed to suspend all duties on each other’s products for six months while negotiations on a long-term solution continue. “We can only reiterate that the EU remains committed to finding a solution with the U.S. to the unduly justified tariffs on steel and aluminium and to working with the U.S. in tackling the root cause of the problem, which is the global steel overcapacity,” a spokesperson for the European Commission said on Saturday. Negotiators on both sides of the Atlantic are working to eventually remove the tariffs […]

Tariff truce may spare iconic US products from huge price hikes Read More »

The Best Times Bikernet Weekly News for July 9, 2020

General Posts / By

And It’s Just Getting Better Hey, This week was tough. I had some interesting interactions with folks in the industry. I won’t go into them except to throw some of my adages out there. First, other than the Covid nightmare, we are living in the best of times. The edges may be rough, but think about it. I have always supported our Presidents, I don’t care what party they came from. When a man or a woman is President of the United States, they have the toughest job on the planet. In this case he’s trying to make America Great again, while fighting the worst Pandemic in almost 100 years. Before you know it, there will be a vaccine and the world will rock again, until the next time. Think about the best of times. We couldn’t possibly be able to move as fast with efforts to curb disease without the technology we have. I just moved to Deadwood, and I had a tough time finding a town without franchise joints on every corner. I turned the lights on, and the heat worked. There was food in walking distance and medical support in Sturgis with a considerable VA hospital. Life is incredible. Motorcycle parts are delivered every day, amazing. CLICK HERE TO READ THE WEEKLY NEWS ON BIKERNET Join the Cantina today https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

The Best Times Bikernet Weekly News for July 9, 2020 Read More »

Harley-Davidson appoints Jochen Zeitz as President & CEO: New plan to redefine brand

General Posts / By

by Rahul Kapoor from https://www.financialexpress.com With Matt Levatich stepping down, Harley Davidson had appointed Jochen Zeitz to lead the brand in the interim. But Zeitz has now been appointed as the president and CEO for the Milwaukee based motorcycle manufacturer. Harley-Davidson, the iconic American motorcycle brand has elevated interim President and CEO Jochen Zeitz as the new President and CEO of the company. Zeitz was appointed into the interim position after the former head of the brand Matt Levatich stepped down after a dismal sales performance of the brand that it witnessed in recent years. Zeitz who is currently the chairman of the board of Harley-Davidson brings his experience as the CEO of the sports apparel and goods brand Puma to the role. He also has plans to restructure the company and also redefine Harley Davidson. In a press statement, Zeitz said “Over the next few months, we will re-wire the business and redefine a new 5-year strategic plan later this year. I will then oversee the implementation of these changes and re-ignite Harley-Davidson as one of the most revered and iconic brands in the world,” Zeitz is working towards an all-new brand strategy called “The Rewire” that would allow Harley-Davidson to enter new markets and segments as well. The plan is said to develop further in the coming months which will incorporate key products, and initiatives from the current ongoing strategy for the brand, but with a key focus on markets and products that can help drive profits and growth. Harley-Davidson has found the last few years to be difficult in terms of unit sales. This has been more prominent in its home market – the USA as the modern consumers have moved away from heavyweight cruisers to adventure touring models or ADVs. Zeitz has been on the board

Harley-Davidson appoints Jochen Zeitz as President & CEO: New plan to redefine brand Read More »

Harley-Davidson’s acting CEO Zeitz sees potential to revitalize motorcycle brand

General Posts / By

Following a tough fiscal 2019 where U.S. Harley-Davidson motorcycle sales were the lowest in at least 16 years, the Milwaukee manufacturer announced Feb. 28 that Matthew Levatich stepped down as president and CEO. Current Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) board member Jochen Zeitz will serve as acting president and CEO. Harley-Davidson appoint Jochen Zeitz as president and CEO Jochen Zeitz also served as the chairman and CEO of the sporting goods company, Puma from 1993 to 2011. Harley-Davidson board of directors have appointed Jochen Zeitz as acting president and CEO; Matthew Levatich steps down. American bike maker, Harley-Davidson announced that the board of directors have appointed present board member, Jochen Zeitz as acting president and CEO. Matthew Levatich has stepped down from his role as the president and CEO and as a member of the board. Speaking on his new role, Jochen Zeitz said, “The Board and Matt mutually agreed that now is the time for new leadership at Harley-Davidson. Levatich was instrumental in defining the More Roads to Harley-Davidson accelerated plan for growth, and we will look to new leadership to recharge our business. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Matt for his 26 years of service to Harley-Davidson. He has worked tirelessly to navigate the company through a period of significant industry change while ensuring the preservation of one of the most iconic brands in the world.” Furthermore, a board committee is being formed, and the OEM will use an external search firm to find a new CEO. Levatich will be assisting the transition through the end of March. As part of this leadership change, Zeitz has also been named chairman of the Board and will remain chairman once the new CEO is appointed. The current chairman of the Board, Michael Cave will be the presiding

Harley-Davidson’s acting CEO Zeitz sees potential to revitalize motorcycle brand Read More »

Rod Copes quits as Royal Enfield North America President

General Posts / By

Before joining Royal Enfield in 2014, Copes worked with Harley Davidson for 20 years. Former Harley executive Rod Copes has quit from his role of President of Royal Enfield North America, where he was heading the North and Latin America for last 5 years, reveals a LiveMint report. Copes has previously worked with Harley Davidson for 20 years till August 2014, before joining Royal Enfield. An alumni of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Copes was a key figure in setting up Royal Enfield’s operations in the USA and Canada. Later in May 2019, he also took over the responsibility of the Latin American market, including Brazil, Colombia and Argentina. The report claims that Rod Copes will continue his work until the end of February. It quotes a person from the company who said that Copes’ exit could be a blow to Royal Enfield in terms of further expansion of the brand’s presence in North American market. This is the second big exit among the key persons of the company, after Pierre Terblanche resigned in July 2016. Pierre Terblanche is a famous motorcycle designer, who joined Royal Enfield in November 2014. In North America, RE has around 100 dealers. The company is aiming to scale up the sales volumes to around 10,000-15,000 units by mid-2020. It is banking on the 650cc models for that goal.

Rod Copes quits as Royal Enfield North America President Read More »

Harley-Davidson removes president of global brand development Neil Grimmer

General Posts / By

by Margaret Naczek from https://www.bizjournals.com/ Harley-Davidson Inc. confirmed Friday that Neil Grimmer, president of Harley’s global brand development, is no longer with the company. “His departure comes after an internal inquiry along with a third-party investigation into concerns that his judgement and conduct as a senior leader did not align with our culture and the values we expect all our employees to demonstrate,” a Harley-Davidson spokesperson said via email. A source familiar with the matter indicated that Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) received complaints about Grimmer which did not align with the company’s code of business conduct. The departure reflected multiple actions by Grimmer, not a single event, according to a source familiar with the matter. Harley-Davidson president and CEO Matt Levatich told employees about Grimmer’s departure Friday morning in an internal memo acquired by the Milwaukee Business Journal. The memo indicated that Levatich would be assuming Grimmer’s responsibilities as president of global brand development in the interim. Harley-Davidson announced the hiring of Grimmer into the newly created global brand development president position in April of this year. Grimmer had most recently worked as CEO of Habit, a personalized nutrition life science company he had founded. Grimmer was a direct report to Levatich, and his duties ranged from product planning, marketing and retail to communications. “Based upon our internal inquiry along with the findings of this third-party investigation, we determined that Mr. Grimmer leaving Harley-Davidson was the appropriate course of action. Harley-Davidson takes all matters related to workplace conduct and our Valued Behaviors very seriously. All Harley-Davidson employees, regardless of level, are expected to follow our Code of Business Conduct and Valued Behaviors,” a Harley-Davidson spokesperson said via email.

Harley-Davidson removes president of global brand development Neil Grimmer Read More »

Harley-Davidson Announces Global Brand President

General Posts / By

Leadership structure and capabilities positioned to amplify the brand and drive company strategy MILWAUKEE, April 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Harley-Davidson announced today that Neil Grimmer will join the company’s leadership team as President, Harley-Davidson Brand. As Harley’s first-ever brand president, Grimmer will evolve the brand to support the company’s strategy to build the next generation of Harley-Davidson riders globally. As the company expands into new segments and new geographies and seeks to inspire diverse, new riders around the globe, he will be responsible for all aspects of the Harley-Davidson brand including product planning, marketing, retail, apparel and communications. Reporting directly to Matt Levatich, President and Chief Executive Officer, Harley-Davidson, Inc., Grimmer brings over 20 years of experience building brands and growing companies. Most recently, he was Founder and CEO of Habit, the world’s first personalized nutrition life science company. Grimmer also served in a leadership role at Campbell Soup Company and was Co-founder & CEO of Plum Organics, which was acquired by Campbell’s in 2013. Grimmer also served as the Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at Clif Bar & Company and Senior Designer at IDEO. He earned an MFA in Product Design from Stanford University and a BFA from California College of the Arts. He is currently a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. Grimmer will bring together our consumer facing teams around the world who will together invigorate the Harley-Davidson consumer experience and deliver a global brand force that resonates with new riders and engages today’s riders to support our growth going forward. “Neil’s creative instincts, innovation mindset, deep brand and consumer experience and bottom-line orientation is critically important as we lead and inspire our teams and riders,” said Matt Levatich. “He is joining us at a pivotal time, and his leadership qualities and affinity for who

Harley-Davidson Announces Global Brand President Read More »

Proclamation on Second Chance Month, 2019

General Posts / By

Americans have always believed in the power of redemption ‑‑ that those who have fallen can work toward brighter days ahead. Almost all of the more than two million people in America’s prisons will one day return to their communities. In each case, they will have served their sentence and earned the chance to take their places back in society. During Second Chance Month, we draw attention to the challenges that former inmates face and the steps we can take to ensure they have the opportunity to become contributing members of society. Inmates are often eager to leave behind the challenges presented by incarceration. Too often, however, they find the transition to life outside of prison to be daunting. If they are not able to find jobs and housing and rebuild relationships with family and friends, they may find it harder to escape the cycle of reoffending. Sadly, 5 out of 6 State prisoners are rearrested within 9 years of their release, and more than a third of former Federal prisoners will be rearrested within 5 years of their release. In addition to the harm caused to the victims of crime, these high recidivism rates place a significant financial burden on taxpayers, deprive our labor force of productive workers, and leave families without spouses, children, and parents. My Administration is committed to helping former prisoners reenter society as productive, law‑abiding citizens. For this reason, I signed into law the bipartisan FIRST STEP Act. This new legislation makes several positive reforms to increase the likelihood of successful prisoner reentry. The legislation provides improved opportunities for inmates to engage in educational coursework and vocational training, and establishes pilot mentorship programs. It also allows prisoners who successfully complete evidence‑based recidivism reduction programs to earn time credits to apply toward prerelease custody or supervised

Proclamation on Second Chance Month, 2019 Read More »

Outlaws Motorcycle Club leader’s funeral set for Montgomery Co. fairgrounds

General Posts / By

‘Taco’ Bowman was president of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – Harry Joseph “Taco” Bowman, the former president of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club who was on the FBI’s top ten most wanted fugitive’s list, will have his funeral on Saturday at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds. Bowman’s funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. A procession from the fairgrounds to Bear Creek Cemetery on North Union Road in Madison Twp. will begin at 12 p.m. Sheriff’s Deputies will be shutting down North Union Road to Hoover Avenue in Trotwood for the funeral. Additionally, deputies will also partially close down Infirmary Road from the Montgomery County fairgrounds to SR-35 for the procession. Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said officers are not expecting any safety issues but given the size of the crowd and the reputation of the group, they do have contingency plans in place. “There’s always concerns when you have get large groups of people who have been known to be violent. They do not try to hide that fact,” Streck said. “(But) We don’t have any chatter of suspected violence, we don’t have any indications that other clubs are going to try and cause trouble at the event.” Bowman, who was serviving a life sentence in federal prison, died on Sunday at the Federal Medical Center in North Carolina. He was 69 years old. According to the Detroit News, Bowman was considered one of the most infamous motorcycle gang leaders in U.S. history. The Outlaws were rivals to the Hell’s Angels. Bowman was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List in 1998, interrupting what had been a relatively low profile kept by Bowman while serving as leader of the Outlaws. In 2001, he was convicted in a Federal court in Florida of the murders of several rival gang members,

Outlaws Motorcycle Club leader’s funeral set for Montgomery Co. fairgrounds Read More »

Scroll to Top