(Updates with statement from Harley-Davidson in the fifth paragraph.)

Harley-Davidson (HOG) activist investor H Partners is preparing for a board battle to remove three directors, including chief executive officer Jochen Zeitz, following a sharp decline in sales and a plummeting stock price, the investment firm said in a statement Wednesday.

H Partners plans to launch a campaign to remove Zeitz, as well as directors Thomas Linebarger and Sara Levinson, at Harley's annual meeting, according to the statement.

The firm will advocate for a "withhold" strategy, urging other shareholders to reject the re-election of the three longtime board members. The move comes after H Partners called on Zeitz, who became CEO in 2020, to step down immediately, the statement said.

In an open letter accompanying the statement, H Partners said, "Due to the widening gulf between reality and the Company's perception of reality, it has become clear to us that meaningful change is necessary at both the Board and CEO levels."

Harley-Davidson, in response to a query from MT Newswires, said H Partners is prioritizing its own interests over those of other shareholders by targeting board members after the firm's preferred CEO candidate failed to receive majority support from the board's independent directors.