Harleys plug in
HARLEYDAVIDSON plans to expand motorcycle ridership and increase global sales with bikes that will be hardly recognisable as Harleys; among them electric scooters and small bikes destined for foreign markets.
The plan, perhaps the most aggressive in the company’s 115year history, is part of a broad effort to reverse eroding market share, attract new riders to replace older ones ageing out of the sport, and correct a stock slide that has seen Harley’s pershare value almost halve in the past four years.
President and chief executive Matt Levatich said the initiative would require a reversal of corporate mentality.
‘‘We are shifting our mindset from ‘we build bikes’ to ‘we build riders’,’’ Levatich, 53, said.
HarleyDavidson plans to add at least five new machines to its promised LiveWire electric motorcycle family, the company’s first foray into batterypowered twowheelers
The electric motorcycle effort will include several of what Levatich called ‘‘lightweight, urban’’ transportation products that are designed specifically to appeal to ‘‘young adults, globally, living in dense urban spaces’’.
Calling this an ‘‘unmet need’’, Levatich said sales of these small electric motorbikes, designed to compete with beginnerlevel mopeds and electric scooters, bring firsttime consumers into the Harley brand in markets where the company has not enjoyed strong sales, or any sales at all.
Harley will also for the first time enter the Adventure Touring segment, with two proposed Pan America bikes, and build at least five new ‘‘Custom’’ models and nine new ‘‘Streetfighter’’ bikes, many as small as 500cc.