THE quintessential American-made motorcycle brand is making a questionably unpatriotic decision to move production away from home.
This choice will result in three of the brand’s most beloved bikes, as well as its high-performance engine, being built abroad as tariffs loom over the company’s products.
Harley-Davidson’s latest manufacturing news show it isn’t focused only on the US[/caption]
The Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special[/caption]
The 2025 Harley-Davidson Nightster[/caption]
The 2025 Harley-Davidson Sportster[/caption]
In the wake of retaliatory tariffs by the EU, Harley-Davidson has chosen to shift production of its Revolution Max engine line of bikes to a plant in Thailand.
The bikes leaving American factories are the Pan America, as well as the classic Sportster and beloved Nightster models.
All three are powered by the liquid-cooled RevMax engine, which was designed with a philosophy almost completely opposite to the brand’s typical loud, high-displacement engines.
The decision is primarily motivated by the 31% tariff placed by the EU on American-built bikes in retaliation to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum.
The move is also seemingly influenced by the company’s nearly $7 billion total debt as of June 2025, which further explains the company’s to skirt these tariffs amid an already impactful sales slump.
The EMEA market, which represents the brand’s sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined, is responsible for its third largest sales numbers behind the combined North American markets and the United States market individually.
In 2024, 24,082 bikes were sold in the EMEA market, with 94,930 of the combined North American market’s 102,023 total units sold coming from the United States alone.
Harley-Davidson’s EMEA market sales accounted for roughly 16% of its global sales in 2024.
The EMEA region is effectively the brand’s second largest individual market behind the company’s birthplace, hence its dedication to serving EU customers.
While the brand doesn’t publicize a breakdown of its sales by model, it can be presumed that the Pan America, Sportster, and Nightster models, and the RevMax engine, have proven popular across the pond.
The move was described as “temporarily transition[ing] the production of [Harley-Davidson’s] non-core Revolution Max powertrain-equipped models” by a company spokesperson per RevZilla, suggesting the models’ productions may soon return stateside.
This statement has done little to ease the nerves of the company’s workers, who are represented in part by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union.
“This decision undermines the hard work and dedication of IAM members in York, Pennsylvania, and Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, who have been the backbone of Harley-Davidson’s success,” IAM president Brian Bryant said in response to the relocation.
Bryant’s words and workers’ sentiments are fueled by a similar situation from 2018, in which Harley-Davidson began producing European models at its Thailand plant just as its Kansas City factory shut down.
Harley-Davidson closures in 2024
There are over 650 Harley-Davidson dealerships across America.
However, multiple stores have closed for various reasons throughout 2024 – if they give any explanation at all.
Below is a list of some Harley-Davidson locations that have shuttered this year and why they closed their doors:
A San Francisco location closed in June 2024 after 110 years due to ‘chaos’ brought by new management.
Miracle City Harley-Davidson in Titusville, Florida, closed in September 2024 with no reason given.
Harley-Davidson’s legacy location in New York City closed shop on September 28, 2024, with the owner citing problems with the economy.
Reiman’s Harley-Davidson dealership in Kewanee, Illinois, closed its doors in October 2024 after the owners sold the business to the Walter Brothers Harley Davidson dealership in Peoria, Illinois.
Another Illinois dealership closed in November 2024.
Plus, the dealership in West Bend, Wisconsin, is temporarily closing for the season from November 2 until April 1, 2024.
In 2025, Hideout Harley-Davidson in Missouri announced it would shutter at the end of March.
This resulted in roughly 600 IAM union members losing their jobs after the company backtracked on its promise to only build European and Asian models at the Thailand factory, with American models eventually being built abroad and shipped home.
This resulted in roughly 600 IAM union members losing their jobs after the company backtracked on its promise to only build European and Asian models at the Thailand factory, with American models eventually being built abroad and shipped home.
The same company spokesperson in turn emphasized the company’s plan to invest $9 million into domestic factories to “strengthen [its] US manufacturing capabilities and capacity for [its] core products.”
DARK ROAD AHEAD?
This controversial decision comes at a tumultuous time for the company, which is undergoing major transitions at the top of the leadership chain.
CEO Jochen Zeitz is stepping down imminently following promises to do so earlier this year, with current TopGolf CEO Artie Starrs set to take his place in October.
Two new board members were announced this week, one of whom is the current CEO and President of Yeti and oversaw the company’s transformation into a publicly traded company.
However, last year and this year have seen the brand plagued by dealership closures, with some store owners blaming senior leadership and the direction the brand has gone in.
While there are many issues to work through, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, particularly in the form of a deal inked in August which gave the company a $1.25 billion influx of cash.
