[Bobby77]

Electric motorbike concepts will save Harley-Davidson, not the LiveWire - Electrek

Electrek wrote a very interesting article where they argued that the LiveWire was never meant to singlehandedly save the company.

Instead, they argue that HD's future will be determined by the rest of their electric motorbikes.

Yet it seems everyone missed a couple of very important points.

First of all, the LiveWire was never meant to sell in high numbers, and especially not to young riders. It’s a premium electric motorcycle priced at $30k. There aren’t a lot of people that can afford a bike like that, especially not in the younger rider demographic that is critical to Harley-Davidson’s long term success. Rather, the bike was built to serve as a halo product – one that could demonstrate H-D’s ability to build electric vehicles.

And that’s ok because it leads directly to point number two: Harley-Davidson’s future, which depends on its ability to appeal to younger riders, rests not on the LiveWire but on a whole suite of lower cost, lighter electric motorcycles that Harley is already hard at work on.

As part of its new “More Roads to Harley-Davidson” plan, the company unveiled a total of five different electric motorbike concepts. According to the company, each was intended to reach the market by 2022 at the latest.

Among the new EV designs were a mid-weight electric motorcycle, an electric dirt bike, an electric moped/scooter, and an electric bicycle. The company specifically stated that these models were designed to offer lower price points and that some could even offer street-legal riding without a motorcycle license — a big appeal to younger riders.

And ladies and gentlemen, these will be these electric motorbikes that will decide whether Harley-Davidson will be successful in its attempt to win over younger riders. Not the premium, expensive LiveWire, as much fun as it may be.

And these millennial-friendly bikes aren’t just sketches, either. The company has since further fleshed out many of these concepts with some impressing looking offerings, electric or otherwise.

Here's the link to the article - https://electrek.co/2019/10/11/livewire-electric-motorcycle-save-harley-davidson/

 

[Bobby77]

To add a bit of context, the demand for the LiveWire hasn't been what HD expected because of its high starting price.

The problem lies mostly with this “super-premium” product’s price. The bike costs nearly as much as a Tesla Model 3, and aims for a market that does not really exist: young, “green” and affluent first-time motorcyclists.

The sleek sport bike has been available for preorder in the United States since January. However, the bulk of the orders are coming in from existing and old riders, according to interviews with 40 of the 150 dealerships nationwide that are carrying the bike this year.

The dealers Reuters spoke with account for little over a quarter of LiveWire dealerships and are spread across Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, California, Nevada, New Jersey and New York.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-harley-davidson-electricbike-focus/harley-struggles-to-fire-up-new-generation-of-riders-with-electric-bike-debut-idUSKBN1WM10N