YouSaid · the spoken record

Matthew Levatich

lines on the record: 49
first: 2019-07-12
most recent: 2019-07-12
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Gasoline, it burns for people to enjoy it. What can we do to raise fuel economy? What can we do to reduce the material intensity of our products and the iron ore that we take out of the ground and turn into forgings and machine and use electricity to do all that and so forth? So we have a very sophisticated and informed view about the impact that we have on our environment and we know then therefore how to drive it down. And EV at the moment because of how electricity in general is generated is not the answer for the planet. But when electricity generation becomes more efficient, becomes more effective, becomes less environmentally damaging. Electric vehicles are the right way to get around and they're a heck of a lot of fun. Thank you”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Absolutely. In fact, one of the five objectives that we have under our Grow the Next Generation of Riders is to grow our business without growing our environmental impact. We have a very avid climate, I wouldn't call them a scientist on our board, Jachensitz. We started a sustainability committee about seven years ago on our board. It's one of the first companies to do it. And he was with Puma and Kearing. And we have a methodology, which is an environmental profit and loss statement where we dollarize every impact that we have from the iron ore to the end of use, to water use to the dealer land footprint in our entire business for every product line. And we know exactly how to drive the environmental impact of our product down, the single biggest impact of our product on the environment is product in use.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It always struck me as just a cop out. And it is very hard to understand and is something that you actually need a level of competency in to be able to enjoy it confidently. And it takes time. And so some of the strategies with EVs and rider training and other things that we're doing and inspiring people to give it a consideration and to try it with twist and go simplicity. And this is where the rideshare platforms and all the scooters are enablers.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“People choosing to do and why, and this is why activating the company and our dealers and the marketplace around the power of writing, what do you get from riding? And we had an ad. I've been at Harley 25 years, and in 1994 when I joined, there was an ad that said, if we had to explain, you wouldn't understand, which was sort of arrogant and convenient because at that time we didn't have to explain. There were year-long waiting lists.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It's an interesting question, and we actually, the most significant effect of our business in the United States is our existing used motorcycles. And when you're a manufacturer of new motorcycles, you don't like used motorcycles because they are literally the best alternative to New Harley as a used Harley for most customers. When you're in the business of building riders, which is in this mindset shift that we started in 2017, you actually love used Harley's because used Harley's are more affordable, maybe they're less intimidating. I'm not worried about dropping it in my garage. They are a great pathway into the brand and into the sport. When we look at competition, it's a broader definition than just other motorcycle manufacturers because in this case these are used Harleys. What are the things that are competing for Mindshare and Wallet Share?”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Stronger dealers How do we get them to behave more inappropriate ways as one ecosystem of a retail distribution center when they're really 600 or 650 different business entities? These are some of the practical realities in how we move forward in the day and age where people don't want to see any distinction between physical and virtual and how they engage with products and brands and experiences. So it's very much a core part of our strategy and We're deep into it right now.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Interested, learn, pursue, get inspired? How do they augment and help enhance the physical experience? How do they not just coexist, but actually benefit from one another's presence? So in the true sense of omnichannel, that's what we're after. We have people that believe or suggest or speculate that there isn't a role for a dealer anymore. We don't agree with that. And there's a lot of work that goes on physically. We have 700 dealerships in the United States. They're almost entirely, well, they're all independent from the company. They're mostly independent from one another. They're owned by individual business leaders. It's not a franchise model. It's a direct distribution model. So how do we get them all to raise their game individually? There's a lot of individual conversations. How do we get them to buy into some of these new realities of how people want to engage and shop? That's very much a part of our strategy under the heading of”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, so it's a great question. And first of all, the activation that the dealers do for the community of riders is quite a powerful part of the equation. And it's part of the equation we want to extend in these new segments to these new types of riders. And the role of physical distribution is we don't think of it as, I would say, traditional retail in the sense that this is where a transaction happens, and that's the only thing that happens there. This is where people meet. They congregate, they find like-minded people, they go out for a ride together. It also in our business, you know, there's a useful role for service, which will probably be less intensive with electric vehicles. But again, we see the traditional vehicles lasting for a long time. So the digital component of it to us helps activate more broadly, recognize what are the gateways for people to get”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Not yet. The weirdest prototype. They're not weird. They're all cool. Some of them don't make it to market because they're practical problems or cause problems. We have some of the best engineers”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It's not out of the question. We have a full, we've displayed at the X Games this spring, we had actually running versions of what we call our lightweight EVs, so they're not traditional scooters, but electric powered traditional sit-on scooters same size. Very styled, very Motively, again, to capture the imagination of people. We believe that people want to sit on a boring commodity. They want to experience something special and unique, and that's how Harley Davidson can differentiate. So we have prototypes. We're in development on, where that will go, how it might manifest itself is still.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“For their desire for individuality, for identity, for freedom that we see in our existing customers, it manifests itself differently in an urban environment. So they will say things like, I want something to unlock my city. That's freedom to them, right? They can get around and they can, and these platforms are enabling them to see the potential in that. From a business perspective, it's puzzling to me, the economics of these valuations. I was just in Europe last week. I don't know how I can't count how many different brands and formats Their clutter on the streets, it's sort of a Cambrian explosion of. Products trying to inspire an answer for people. And there'll be some shakeout in that, but I do think that's what I w”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, at some level, it's exciting, right? Because it's creating energy in a space for people to, I call it rather than living virtually living for real. And they're out there and they have the wind in their hair, and whether it's a stand on scooter or a sit on scooter, it's getting people engaged in. Fun way to get around We talk to young people. Urbanization is a macro trend globally, obviously with different differences in buying behavior and ownership behavior and everything's happened with the next generation of humans on the planet. We talk to a lot of them. They have the same expression.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“60 to 80 and another 1.8 seconds. So these are very quick high performance motorcycles. They have no clutch. They have no gears. They are twist and go. Twist to slow down. Obviously they have brakes. So the simplicity and the ease of access for people that didn't grow up with manual transmissions and maybe they're less inclined to go through a lot of training. It allows easier access for the next generation of riders.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Starts with a great product that allows people to really get the most out of the ride because that's what it's about. And by the way, EV, and I can't really show you on this because I look ridiculous on it, but it's twist and go simplicity. So there is no, in our live wire product, zero to 60 in three seconds, that's very fast. 60 to 80.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, from a technology and regulatory perspective and from a cost perspective, not just the EVs getting less expensive, but traditional internal combustion getting more expensive. Probably there's a convergence coming in the next decade where it will become more electric. So we're obviously playing into that From a capability perspective, but our focus is a great ride and a great ride.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And by the way, this isn't all Harley's now EV, and we're not doing that anymore either. Yes, yeah. So it's everything we've ever been plus more.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So it is about sound, and this is one of the senses. And it activates that sense differently So again, this is actually an example too of the shift from the object to the.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Or off the road experience, I hear birds and crickets and the environment around me. Later on, I had the opportunity to ride with a journalist at 70 miles an hour on an old abandoned airport runway. We were talking like you and I are. And it's a different sound.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“What is that like? So we had four people, four or five people, and some seed money. Took them one year to have a running version of basically what we're launching later this year. And I wrote it in the summer of 2013 on this little road course outside of Milwaukee. It was a beautiful summer day. I'm completely in my full face helmet in my leathers and everything else. And I'm going up this... This very steep short hill in this very narrow little paved road. And I'm thinking I'm 240 pounds and I better goose this thing or I'm not going to make it up the hill. So I lean into this throttle a little bit, and as I'm cresting the hill, it actually turns right and drops down. And I'm thinking to myself, oh good Lord, as I'm sort of catching air, negotiating this downward turn, is I'm having this sort of out-of-body experience with.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Halo electric motorcycle. And we commissioned a team in product development in about 2012. And just to give you a sense of how we design product. We have fantastic designers and it is about the emotional cues that make a personal connection between the rider and their motorcycle. So we talk about the look of the motorcycle, the sound of the motorcycle, the feel of the motorcycle. They're beautifully designed to elicit an emotional personal connection between the person and their product. When we embarked on the EV challenge, you can easily get there with look, you can easily get there with feel, and then you go to sound and you think, oh.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“No, of course. I mean, we have coming out later this year the other end of the spectrum of EV, which is called LiveWire. It is a super premium.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Make it about the person and to make it about the activity and to make it about so it's shifting from the noun, the bike to the verb, you know, the ride and the experience and the feeling that people derive from riding to rekindle interest amongst existing riders, former riders, people who haven't yet thought about riding, because there's a lot of competition today, more so than ever. So much competition for our time, which is more limited, our money which is more limited, and so many more options for people to live virtually versus living for real. And we believe that we offer this very unique, thrilling, enlivening kind of experience of writing. And the existing products that we have. Are a fairly narrow band of how you can participate.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think in more recent times, it has become, and I say, I would say necessarily the company, but it has become about the object, not the activity. And I like to say to people and just informally, if you're a skier, you care about ski equipment, you know about ski equipment, you follow ski equipment, you might read ski magazines. If you don't ski, you don't care anything about it, you don't know anything about ski equipment. Or scuba or tennis or golf or on and on. So by shifting our emphasis, and I wouldn't say it's a strategic shift, it was more of a strategic epiphany in 2017 to establish the headline of our strategy, which is to build the next generation of riders globally”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It's a great question, and if you don't mind, I'm going to back out a little bit because from the very beginning, this company was founded by four young men in Milwaukee in 1903 who wanted to go farther, faster with more fun. And that was their whole motivation. And they created products that allowed them to do that. The pursuit was riding. The pursuit wasn't, if you will, the bike, but the activity. And through the entire history of the company, we have been fixated on the ride.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I don't think it would be, you know, we invest, we have a lot of hourly employees, almost half of our employees in the company. But we also invest heavily in capital. Automation a lot for safety and for ergonomic health reasons. We've invested in robotics and things and lift assists to make sure people don't get injured in our plants. So that is actually part of the reason why we're cost effective is the capital intensity of our business, which is more neutral.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I personally, my personal perspective, and I'm not in that industry, but from a manufacturing perspective, it's less difficult because it's so capital intensive. So the capital could be deployed in the United States. I think some of the techniques in the labor that labor more labor intensive technique industries, it's harder if they've left.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So now the ones we actually invested to build there are more expensive for us to do, and the ones we imported a little bit less. But even take it to 50%. Any motorcycle manufacturer around the world gets into the United States for zero. And in every, including Europe, it's 6%. That's one of the lowest. Most of Asia is between 60 and 100. Japan is reasonably competitive So these are real issues, and they're not just economic trade barriers, there's all sorts of other trade barriers and things like that. How do you”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I don't see one of the things that we were on the heels of Jeff Bezos and the Amazon and the Postal Service. And I watched his strategy, whether it was... His or his company's strategy as being very effective. We're running a business. We're not engaging in the political theater. Of course, of course, you know, from a policy perspective. What the president and the administration are after we completely agree with. A free and fair trade, we face ridiculous tariff burdens around the country. The classic example he uses is 100% in India. Now, for the motorcycles we ship from the United States to India, and we do ship motorcycles complete from the United States to India, it's 50%. In getting it from 100 to 50, the rate on the ones we assemble in India went from 10 to 15. And dollars netted out equal for India.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We work hard at it. And we challenge our suppliers in the United States. Proximity is only an advantage to you when you're competitive with technology, you're competitive with cost, you're competitive with quality, and you're competitive goalie. And that's a high standard. But we challenge and we get the best out of our suppliers because we expect that. And because of that, we're able to compete globally on our merits building in the United States and shipping predominantly to”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We would, I mean, our preference would be to do everything here. And I would say as a company, we have an admirable stance on the content that we source and fabricate and assemble in the United States. Again, if you walk through one of our factories, there'll be no doubt in your mind that we make things. And I would invite you to Milwaukee anytime you want to see how things are made. And I love it, and we have unionized workforce. We pay well. We have good benefits, and we are competitive.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So it would be hard, for example, if you were a footwear manufacturer to just simply make the decision, I'm now going to source my shoes in the United States instead of... India, Italy, what have you, right? Because the know-how doesn't exist. We have not so many examples in our business that we're unable to source here, but we do have an apparel division, and apparel is difficult to source at volume in the United States. Because the know-how left decades ago, and you can't snap your fingers and create it at scale.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think there are certain. I have a particular perspective on innovation, which is maybe different than the sort of whiz-bang Buck Rogers sort of things that people talk. To me, innovation comes from know-how. Comes from the daily practice of doing something. And because you do something, you're able to figure out how to do it better. And conversely, once you stop doing something, you no longer have the ability to be excellent at it because you're starting from scratch. And there are industries that have left the United States that would be difficult to resurrect here in the United States, certainly at scale. No, not cars, like a lot of textiles and leather and footwear and decades ago.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I would say, and I think it's hard for the media to cover this because every company is affected in a unique way, depending on where they source, where they sell, what are the commodities that they trade in. So we just do the calculus based on our company What are the facts and circumstances before us? What's the decision that we need to make? Obviously, there's some calculus and speculation in the case of, for example, Mexico. Is it going to actually go into effect? How long might it last? Unfortunately, that one was averted. Think more so for the auto companies than maybe for Harley because again, we do most of our stuff here in the United States, but we do source some things from Mexico. And they would have immediately gone up in cost by 5%. And then 10% and then 15%.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So now we're left with a decision should we disrupt that plan and utilize that capacity for Europe? What's the better answer? Is this going to go away? How long is it going to last? And so the uncertainty to me is the biggest challenge for any business leader in the environment that we're in.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“To me, the biggest challenge as a business leader is the uncertainty. And so we're making decisions. We make decisions every day how to deploy capital, where to invest, should we, you know, for example, the Thai facility, which just came online in the fourth quarter last year, was never intended for any other reason than to supply on market Auszie on market, because there's a trade agreement in ASEAN that we would benefit from.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We're not talking about the costs of steel and aluminum, which went up initially because we've managed to absorb and find efficiencies. And largely that's a small number. We aren't actually talking about the ratcheting up of Chinese import tariffs because we don't import a lot of components from China. Most of our stuff is domestically sourced and manufactured. So we're not as exposed on the buy side. But this sales side in Europe is significant. And the same thing exists in China. The only reason we aren't talking about it as much is our volume is much lower in China. We're still growing the business there, so it's not as big of an advance.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“As we've all seen, there is a whole lot of stuff going on. Now, interestingly, this is all on the sales side of our business, and we're quite unique in that regard. Most U.S. companies are affected on the buy side of their business. Right, they're buying...”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, what's interesting is the European Union when they drafted that resolution, they put an automatic escalator that two years or one year in, two years after they put the law in place, that that would go from 31%, another 25% up to 56%. So when they put it in place, they weren't thinking it was just going to go away very fast And so we're sitting here a year away from the rate going from 26%. 31% to 56%. So, obviously, that's $200 million run rate costs to the company. And should that come to pass, we have to have a solution for an important market for us. And we can't sit by and wait. The US government doesn't unilaterally set trade policy”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Are we doing what we're doing? Now, what are we going to do about it? And there was, I believe, the assumption in most camps that these would be temporary and they would go away and we could just ride it out. Well, we're here a year later. And they haven't gone away.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I can only speculate, but reading between the lines, because some of the comments were sort of like capitulation and sort of you need to stand by the policies of the U.S. government because these are... That are going to make the policies effective. We run the business based on facts and circumstances. Those are significant costs of the business. We have no idea when the tariffs are going to go. We have to figure out a plan. And our investors want to know what our plan is. These are our obligations as a company, and I would say even more so as a public company. Disclose what we're going to do”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“To supply Europe. We're in the middle of attempting to leverage the Thailand plant to access Europe at that statutory 6% rate, not the 31% rate. And we are awaiting approval.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Have one in Thailand. We have one in India. We have one in Brazil. We've had a plant in Brazil for 20 years ago, very high tariff jurisdictions that are also large and growing motorcycle markets. We ship components.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Million dollars to the company. So it's not small, it's quite significant in our PL. Europe's about 18% of our business. So it's a big deal. And when that happened, we had to make some tough decisions about what we were going to do, including not necessarily knowing if and when these tariffs would go away. What would we do to mitigate that cost? We're going to take care of our market. We're going to take care of our customers. We're going to take care of our dealers. And what are we going to do to make sure that the investors don't continue to pay that toll? So what we did was we announced the option to leverage some of our international assembly operations, which exist principally because we want to sell in high tariff jurisdictions. And the only way to access those jurisdictions at an affordable price.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Of the current price, it would have had an immediate and significant impact on our market share. It would have affected the volume and the sales through our dealers. It would have imperiled some of their financial viability. It would have harmed the company. And to rebuild that, it would have taken time. So we made the decision to cover that tariff, to pay that toll. And preserve our retail prices in Europe and carry that burden, which again, we're a year into it, the annualized run rate on that specific retaliatory tariff is around $100 million.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And for reasons they had, they targeted specific industries, and in our case, a specific company. And the target was significant. It raised our duty rate immediately. It was basically a year ago from 6% to 31% overnight. And Europe is a very important market to us today, and more so in the future as we bring in new products that play to more of the strengths of the segments that are popular in Europe. So preserving the integrity of that market position that we have is very important, preserving the distribution channel that we've built over 100 years that we've been in Europe is very important. So passing on those higher costs to consumers would have reduced demand, would have jeopardized our market position.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Gain steam. So just to set the record straight, we sell motorcycles in over 100 countries around the world, over 90% of them are made in our plants in the United States. The engines have been built in Milwaukee since the very beginning. The vehicles are assembled in York, Pennsylvania. If you walk through any of our factories, there's no doubt about the fact that we are heavily invested in American manufacturing. And that is something that we're very proud of and our customers value around the world. When the tariffs were imposed, and I mean in this case steel and aluminum, We were really affected by as a company was European response to that action and the European response was a very specific retaliation toward Harley Davidson, Levi's, and Bourbon.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It does. I want to get to e bison in a minute because I think Harley Davidson has been around 160 some years based in Milwaukee. One of the things that you got caught in right away was tariffs. Tariffs, tariff tariffs is the topic of the day, essentially. Essentially every time he turns around President Trump threatens tariffs to everyone. But you were the first, the first company that got really under siege by him. And I was sort of surprised because I get why he would say attack me on anything. But Harley Davidson was a surprise to me. So talk about that experience. He tweeted at you that you Essentially making things elsewhere. It's around this whole topic that's just gain steam.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We purchased this company in the first quarter of this year, and it represents the entry level of a full range of electric vehicles that we're going to bring out over the next several years.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months, or $180 or 12 month plan required, $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only greater than 50 GBR is busy. C terms.”
2019-07-12 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT