Ford CEO Jim Farley has delivered a blunt warning to Harley-Davidson, arguing that the storied motorcycle maker must overhaul its strategy at high speed or risk fading into irrelevance. His message cuts through the romance of chrome and V-twins and goes straight to the balance sheet: heritage alone will not keep riders loyal in a market that is shifting toward new technologies, new price points, and new expectations.
Harley-Davidson is already living with the consequences of moving too slowly, from sliding U.S. sales to dealership closures and a bruising backlash among core riders. Farley’s critique lands at a moment when the company is cycling through leadership, experimenting with electric models, and trying to defend its premium image while rivals undercut it on cost and innovation.
Farley’s warning: evolve or be left behind
When Ford CEO Jim Farley looks at Harley-Davidson, he sees a brand at a crossroads, not a guaranteed survivor. In his view, the company’s iconic status in American culture will not protect it if it fails to adapt to changing tastes, new technologies, and a more demanding generation of buyers. Farley has framed the challenge in stark terms, arguing that Harley and Davidson must evolve to survive in a market where younger riders are as interested in connectivity, efficiency, and affordability as they are in sound and style, and where buyers are increasingly willing to turn to other marques if the old guard does not keep up.
Farley’s comments carry extra weight because he is not speaking as a distant observer. As Ford CEO Jim Farley, he has spent the past several years pushing his own company through a wrenching transition toward electric vehicles and software-driven cars, and he has watched how quickly customer loyalties can shift. His warning to Harley is less a casual critique and more a reflection of what he has already seen in the auto industry: once buyers decide a legacy brand is behind the curve, they do not wait around for it to catch up.
What Ford’s own pivot teaches Harley
Farley’s sense of urgency is rooted in his experience steering Ford through the shock of new competition. He has publicly described how taking apart vehicles from Tesla and Chinese rivals forced Ford Motor Company to confront just how far it had fallen behind on cost, software, and manufacturing efficiency. As Ford Motor Company President and CEO Jim Farley, he has said that reverse engineering a Tesla Model 3 and several Chinese EVs was a humbling moment that triggered a shakeup inside the automaker, a recognition that the company needed to rethink everything from its product strategy to its factory footprint in order to compete with Tesla and Chinese brands.
That same mindset underpins Farley’s advice to Harley-Davidson. In his telling, the motorcycle maker cannot assume that its traditional strengths will be enough in a world where new entrants can build lighter, cheaper, and more connected machines. When Tesla and Chinese competitors can deliver compelling products at lower prices, the lesson for Harley is clear: nostalgia is not a strategy, and waiting too long to retool can leave even the most established brands scrambling to catch up.
Chinese disruption and the existential threat mindset
Farley’s language about disruption has been unusually blunt, and it helps explain why he is so direct about Harley’s predicament. He has previously described the rise of Chinese electric vehicle makers as “an existential threat,” a phrase that reflects both admiration and alarm. According to one report, he has said that watching the speed and sophistication of Chinese manufacturers left him both impressed and exasperated, a reaction that underscores how quickly the competitive landscape can shift when new players combine low costs with rapid innovation.
That perspective matters for Harley-Davidson because the motorcycle market is not insulated from the same forces reshaping the car business. If Chinese brands can upend the global auto industry, they can also move into two-wheel segments with aggressively priced electric bikes and small-displacement machines that appeal to younger riders. Farley’s warning is informed by this experience, and his comments about the According Farley Chinese threat are a reminder that Harley is not just competing with its traditional rivals in the United States and Europe, but with a new wave of manufacturers that are comfortable moving fast and breaking old price structures.
Harley’s leadership churn and the Artie Starrs gamble
Harley-Davidson’s response to its mounting challenges has included a series of leadership changes that signal both urgency and uncertainty. After more than five years under a chief executive who came from the athletic shoe business, the company has again turned to an outsider, naming a new CEO with a background that includes a stint as global CEO at Pizza Hut. The move reflects a belief that Harley needs fresh thinking from leaders who have experience in consumer brands and turnarounds, not just in motorcycles, and it underscores how far the company is willing to go to shake up its culture.
The latest chapter in that story is the arrival of CEO Artie Starrs, who has been brought in to lead Harley and Davidson through what is likely to be the most consequential transformation in its modern history. Starrs inherits a company that has already seen Jochen Zeitz replace Matthew Levatich as CEO earlier in the decade, and that has since reshuffled its C-suite in search of a winning formula. The appointment of After CEO Harley and the broader leadership shakeup described in reports about Dec Harley Davidson Jochen Zeitz Matthew Levatich CEO highlight a company that knows it must change, but is still working out exactly how.
Sales slide, dealership closures, and a restless core
Behind the boardroom drama is a simple and uncomfortable reality: Harley’s sales are under pressure, especially in its home market. Reports indicate that the company’s U.S. sales through the first nine months of 2025 are down, and that America’s top-selling motorcycle brand is no longer Harley-Davidson. That shift is more than a symbolic blow, because it suggests that riders who once defaulted to Harley are now choosing other badges, whether for price, performance, or perceived modernity. The fact that another brand has taken the top spot in the United States is a clear sign that Harley’s dominance is no longer guaranteed.
The strain is visible at the retail level as well. Harley-Davidson reported a $377 m profit in the third quarter of 2025, more than triple the same period a year earlier, yet that headline number masks a more troubling trend. Even as the company delivered $377 million in profit, reports say that Harley and Davidson dealerships are shutting down across America and that U.S. sales fell by 5 percent, a combination that points to a strategy focused on margins and pricing rather than volume growth. At the same time, coverage of Dec and the detailed breakdown of Nov Harley Davidson performance underline the tension between short term profitability and long term brand health.
Backlash from riders and the culture problem
Harley’s financial results are only part of the story. The company is also facing a cultural backlash from some of its most loyal customers, who feel alienated by price increases, product decisions, and a sense that the brand is drifting away from its roots. In one widely discussed exchange, the Harley-Davidson CEO was forced to respond to what has been described as one of the biggest backlashes in the company’s history, as sales plummeted and riders voiced their anger over what they saw as a betrayal of the values that made the brand special. That kind of reaction is especially dangerous for a company that relies so heavily on community and identity.
The criticism has not been limited to a single decision or model. Commentators and riders have questioned whether Harley’s leadership understands the balance between modernizing the lineup and preserving the character that long time owners cherish. A video titled “Harley-Davidson CEO Responds To Massive Downfall After …” captures the intensity of the debate, describing how Mar riders are furious and how the company is struggling to reassure them that it has a credible plan. That anger is a warning sign that Harley’s problems are not just about competition from other brands, but about a fraying relationship with the people who built its mystique.
Electric bets and the LiveWire dilemma
One of the clearest examples of Harley’s struggle to adapt is its push into electric motorcycles. The company’s first production electric vehicle, the LiveWire, was designed to show that an Electric Harley Loses the Growl but Still Aims to Turn Heads, trading the traditional exhaust note for instant torque and futuristic styling. The bike was meant to signal that Harley could be both innovative and aspirational, appealing to urban riders and tech minded customers who might never have considered a traditional cruiser. It also represented a bet that the brand could stretch beyond its core without losing its identity.
The challenge is that the LiveWire has had to fight skepticism on multiple fronts. Some long time fans questioned whether a silent Harley could ever feel authentic, while potential new customers balked at the price and wondered whether the company was truly committed to electric mobility or simply experimenting at the margins. Coverage of An Electric Harley Loses the Growl Still Aims Turn Heads Harley has highlighted both the ambition behind the project and the risk that Harley has grown complacent while sales decline, raising the question of whether the company is moving fast enough to build a full ecosystem of electric products rather than a single halo bike.
Repeating old mistakes with new CEOs
Harley’s leadership changes are meant to break with the past, but some critics argue that the company is repeating familiar errors. A detailed analysis of Harley-Davidson’s new CEO has suggested that the board may be making the same mistake as before, bringing in an outsider with a strong consumer background but limited motorcycle experience and expecting them to fix deep structural issues quickly. The concern is that without a clear long term product and pricing strategy, even the most capable executive will struggle to reconcile the demands of Wall Street, dealers, and riders.
That skepticism is amplified by the company’s recent history. The transition from Matthew Levatich to Jochen Zeitz as CEO was framed as a reset, yet many of the underlying challenges, from aging demographics to international competition, have persisted. A video titled “Harley Davidson’s New CEO | The Same Mistake As Before?” captures this anxiety, questioning whether Aug leadership changes are being used as a substitute for the harder work of rethinking the product lineup, dealer model, and pricing architecture. For Farley, who has had to confront similar questions at Ford, the lesson is that changing the name on the CEO’s door is not enough if the strategy remains muddled.
What Harley must do now to avoid Farley’s worst-case scenario
Farley’s warning is not a prediction of doom, but a call for Harley-Davidson to act with the same urgency that Ford has tried to bring to its own transformation. To avoid the fate he fears, Harley will need to accelerate its product development cycles, expand its range beyond heavyweight cruisers, and commit to electric and hybrid technologies in a way that feels integrated rather than experimental. It will also have to confront the reality that younger riders expect digital connectivity, flexible ownership models, and transparent pricing, and that they are willing to reward brands that deliver those things consistently.
Equally important, Harley must repair and renew its relationship with its core community. That means listening to the backlash, not dismissing it, and finding ways to bring long time riders into the conversation about what the brand should become. The company’s recent profitability shows that it still has financial firepower, but the dealership closures, sales declines, and leadership churn are signs that time is not on its side. Farley’s experience with the Mar backlash, the Aug leadership debate, and the broader shock of According Farley Chinese competition has taught him that legacy brands can survive, but only if they are willing to move as fast as the upstarts they once ignored.
More from MorningOverview