Michelle Kumbier Named COO of Harley-Davidson Motor Co.

Harley-Davidson Inc. said Tuesday that Michelle Kumbier has been appointed Chief Operating Officer Of Harley-Davidson Motor Co. with responsibility for overseeing the Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturer’s U.S. and international markets in addition to her current responsibilities leading product and operations, effective immediately.

Kumbier most recently served as senior vice president, Motor Company product and operations. In that role, she led a team of more than 4,500 employees worldwide to bring Harley-Davidson motorcycles, parts and accessories and general merchandise to market through world-class product-development, supply management, and manufacturing methodologies.

Kumbier joined Harley-Davidson in 1997 in operations purchasing, and has since taken on roles with increasing responsibility in purchasing, strategic planning, new business development and parts and accessories.

9 Responses to “Michelle Kumbier Named COO of Harley-Davidson Motor Co.”


  1. 1 Shanedrive Oct 18th, 2017 at 8:13 am

    Headline/wrong. She’s a COO, not CEO. The CEO made me go “WHAT!” 🙂

  2. 2 2Wheels Oct 18th, 2017 at 8:51 am

    She will be CEO as soon as Levatich retires, she’s been his understudy for years.

  3. 3 Joe Oct 18th, 2017 at 9:29 am

    What a great career for her, bravo Michelle. Operations purchasing to COO, that is impressive.

  4. 4 Mike Oct 19th, 2017 at 8:45 pm

    I’ll bet she was hot back in the day.

  5. 5 pabstbluerigid Oct 20th, 2017 at 10:48 am

    dat’s a “hot seat position,” much like CEO….no thank you.

    Teerlink was “the last of the great ones,” miss him dearly. passion he had, connected he was to the marketplace as well as the HD employee.

    time to wake up HD, there are other options now, your primary demographic is literally “dying off,” and the trend is towards “mid-sized agile & nimble units,” less touring yet you still tout a $44,000 CVO bagger?

    until realistic entry level bikes (excluding the Street?) are offered at competitive price points, until a clear marketing campaign is implemented, cultivating new riders, quality control issues resolved…and a myriad of other issues – like some entry level units…ie remember the ‘softail standard,’ the ‘dyna superlide,’ the basic ‘883 xl solo,’ and the ‘FLHT standard?’ watch sales dip. entry level bikes, aluminum finish bare bones = upped accessory sales, labor sales for the dealer.

    dealers have become greedy, jus wanting to make the thousands on the front end sale, finance monies on the back end. but sadly…most current day oem service departments are weak anyway…local oems only work on bike 10 years old & newer…lol…so if you have a 2006 twinkie? sorry. and epa restrictions have oems limiting customer purchases of performance parts!

    thus local indie shops thriving, so much so here locally (in the “South”) NONE are allowed to purchase…even at FULL RETAIL a single seal or gasket from the local oems as they are seen a threat to service business…service business they lost all by themselves.

    karma can be tough, HD…turning your back on the shops you “used to sweep your trash to,” smh.

    hoping someone, sometime can turn it around. still proudly ride an HD powered bike, my build.

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  7. 7 HoboTom Oct 23rd, 2017 at 7:23 pm

    Well it looks like a woman is going to clean up this mess after all.

  8. 8 Zenaldo Oct 28th, 2017 at 7:09 pm

    They’re needing a new scapegoat for the upcoming bloodbath…sales are tanking both domestically & internationally…I hope she’s got a new marketing plan to help correct that problem…good luck miss..

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