Harley-Davidson appointed Artie Starrs, head of sports-entertainment company Topgolf, to be its new president and chief executive officer.
Starrs will succeed Jochen Zeitz, who has led the motorcycle maker as chairman and CEO since 2020 and recently survived a shareholder’s attempt to remove him from the board.
Troy Alstead, presiding director of Harley’s board, will become the new chairman. The transition will take effect Oct. 1. Harley shares were little changed in midday trading.
Starrs, 48, has been CEO of Topgolf International, a subsidiary of Topgolf Callaway Brands, since 2021. Before that, he was the global CEO of Pizza Hut.
The leadership change comes as Harley continues to struggle with a nearly two-decade trend of eroding demand. In its July earnings statement, Harley said quarterly retail sales of motorcycles had declined 15% year-over-year.
Starrs will also confront an aging ridership and restive dealers, some of whom have said the company has boosted its profit at their expense. Numerous Harley dealerships have closed over the past year.
Charlie Cole, who owns eight dealership locations, said restoring dealer profitability should be Starrs’ priority.
“Dealers can’t provide premium service without being profitable,” he said. “Without dealers the motor company has no distribution network.”
Raymond James analyst Joe Altobello, who covers both Harley and Topgolf, said in a note that Starrs could face a steep learning curve when it comes to manufacturing and dealer relations.
“Pizza, golf and Harley—let’s see if that combo works,” dealer Teddy Morse said.
Harley made two big moves just before announcing Starrs’ appointment. It said last week that it is selling a nearly 10% stake of its financing arm to two investment firms, and that it is bringing out a new bike model that will start at less than $6,000.
Under Zeitz, Harley has put priority on its more expensive and profitable lines of touring and cruiser motorcycles. Some dealers have criticized that focus, saying the company was pricing out entry-level customers.
One of the company’s biggest investors, H Partners, led a proxy fight earlier this year in an attempt to remove Zeitz and two other directors from the board, saying they were responsible for a drop in the share price and “cultural depletion.” The three survived the vote at the annual shareholders meeting in May.
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