Where Are Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Made, And Who Owns The Company Now?
Harley-Davidson might be the most iconic motorcycle manufacturer in the world. With globally recognized models like the "Fat Boy" motorcycle, made famous by "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," and the Livewire S2 Del Mar, which helped catalyze the EV revolution, the motorcycle mogul has never failed to make headlines. Yet, few people actually know where their hogs are made. Even more obscure is the ownership of the classic company. But if you guessed that Harley-Davidson is an American-owned entity, you'd be mostly correct.
Harley-Davidson was founded in 1903 by William Harley and three Davidson brothers: Walter, Arthur, and William. After more than a century of successes, the company is now publicly owned, with over 138 million free-floating shares and over 24.5 million company-owned shares. In other words, American individuals, foreign investors, and other stock-market participants own Harley-Davidson now.
Of course, investment firms like Vanguard, BlackRock, and H Partners Management have a decent chunk of the shares, with Vanguard owning over 9% of HOG (Harley-Davidson's stock ticker symbol). Many of these shares are then placed in index funds, meaning individuals still own a slice of the pie. Thus, Harley-Davidson is an American company with millions of American owners and many more owners all around the world. But the manufacturing side isn't quite as cut and dry. The production of parts and assembly of Harley hogs take place in multiple countries, with a complex order of operations.
Where your Harley was made
For most of the company's history, the majority of Harley-Davidson motorcycles and their parts were made in the United States. In fact, four U.S.-based factories were in operation until 2019, with thousands of employees and hundreds of U.S. material suppliers. But with rising global demands and increasing steel-import costs in the 21st century, one plant in Kansas was closed, and a new one was set up in Thailand.
If you're buying a Harley in the United States, however, you can still trust that it was assembled in either Wisconsin or Pennsylvania. In this way, the company's American-made reputation continues to this day, and the three existing American plants employ thousands. Such a legacy has led to some highly sought-after and rare Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, with many bikes that still rip after decades. But the parts themselves aren't necessarily produced in the states.
The manufacturing of the motorcycle parts used by Harley-Davidson occurs in several factories located across the world. There are parts manufacturers in Mexico, Germany, Italy, Taiwan, and Japan. Some of the parts are still made in the U.S. and used with enough frequency to earn the "Made in America" label on any Harley purchased in America. However, with so many different sources, parts, and motorcycle models, it's nearly impossible to pinpoint the exact origins of every motorcycle that rolls off the line.
[Featured image by Ank Kumar via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]
Is Harley-Davidson still an American company or not?
Whether you're a fan or not, it can't be denied that Harley-Davidson is an American company. Since its Milwaukee inception in 1903, the road-hog titan has produced millions of motorcycles on U.S. soil, starting with the Harley-Davidson Model 1. But as one of the oldest manufacturers of motorcycles still in existence, it's no surprise the company has shifted its business model and taken some things overseas.
Outsourcing parts manufacturing, assembly, and supplies to other countries isn't new for Harley-Davidson. When the Great Depression hit supply lines hard for U.S. manufacturers, some Harley hogs were made in Japan. Business was disrupted after the onset of World War II, but after the war, production continued, and some Japanese assembly lines stayed active through the late 1950s.
Harley-Davidson has survived an increasingly globalized world for over 120 years by outsourcing some of its parts and production. However, it's worth remembering that every Harley sold in the U.S. market is assembled, and therefore made, in the United States. It's reasonable to assume that Harley-Davidson could save money by exporting all of its manufacturing overseas, but the company has a reputation as an American brand to live up to.