



MILWAUKEE -- Harley-Davidson officials on Wednesday, March 18 announced the suspension of production in the United States as a result of the coronavirus. Harley-Davidson's Pilgrim Road Powertrain Operations facility was closed Wednesday afternoon after an employee tested positive for the COVID-19.



The suspension of production was set to take effect Wednesday evening through March 29 at York Vehicle Operations in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin facilities Tomahawk Operations and Pilgrim Road Powertrain Operations.



All Harley-Davidson sponsored events were canceled until mid-April.



“We recognize the unprecedented nature of this global crisis," said Jochen Zeitz, acting CEO and president of Harley-Davidson in a news release. "In order to best support our employees and following the social distancing guidance issued by public health authorities, we are temporarily suspending the majority of production at our U.S. manufacturing facilities. We will continue to monitor the situation and take necessary steps to prioritize employee health and safety.”



H-D officials said in a news release the majority of its U.S. production employees would be on temporary layoff with medical benefits, and production areas and common areas would be deep cleaned and disinfected during this time.



On Monday, Harley-Davidson asked employees at its Milwaukee-area headquarters and Product Development Center, except those business-critical roles that must be done onsite, to work remotely through at least the end of March.



H-D officials said they were working with dealers to assess individual impacts -- encouraging dealers to follow the public health guidelines in their communities for the safety of its consumers.