Harley-Davidson is planning to phase out the long-standing internal combustion engine-powered motorcycles and gradually transform into an all-electric brand. Harley CEO Jochen Zeitz says Dezeen that after 120 years of being famous for their big gas-powered cars, electrification is the logical next step. That is, if the The company plans to stay for another 120 years.
HAccording to the company’s CEO, arley-Davidson’s electric vehicle transition “needs to happen,” and not just on a small scale with a brand like Life. No, we are talking about HD dealers selling electric vehicles onlyalthough it won’t happen overnight.
Zeitz speak it could take decades – plural – so at least, we’re looking at a period after 2033, or easily into the 2040s. But change is coming:
“If you look at the past 120 years, the company is always evolving, never standing still,” he said. “Now, like the founders did at the time by trying to reinvent or invent something unique, that is clearly what we as a corporate brand do. also need to do.”
He continued: “What we are doing is honoring our past but also growing the brand at the same time. “It’s a natural evolutionary process that needs to happen.”
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This new commitment to Harley-Davidson branded EVs calls into question the company’s recent decision to spin off current EV models into its new LiveWire brand, but Zeitz goes on to explain:
“We’re thinking: ‘how do we grow if you think really long-term’, because this is not going to be an overnight transition,” he said.
“It took decades, didn’t it? But you also have to think over the decades instead of just thinking about the year and the short-termism that everyone has to deal with as a public company. We had to think about the transition and prepare for the transition, which is why LiveWire was born.”
Maybe Harley-Davidson is fully aware that its core customers have little interest in buying electric vehicles. If that’s the case, then the company’s move to compartmentalize, or “quarantine,” its EV efforts seems wise: it allows Harley to continue selling expensive cargo bikes and high-displacement pigs to those HD loyalists as the carrier fills its battle chests. After all, switching to all-electric vehicles won’t come cheap.
Maybe that’s why Harley hasn’t committed to a hard and fast timeline. However, it’s ironic that the bikes that drag the old Harley down into the eyes of newer generations of riders pave the way for a new one. Harley:
According to Zeitz, the transformation of the iconic brand means focusing on people who may not normally ride large displacement motorcycles and even those who don’t ride them at all.
“I believe in massive transformation for iconic brands, that’s what I’ve always done in my life,” he said.
He continued: “We are targeting different consumer groups – you have a traditional core customer, but you have a modern core customer, you have avid dreamers or drivers or maybe just dream about the brand.
Perhaps this is the first time in a long time that Harley-Davidson is really thinking about the long term. Iconic American company could be a little more transparent about its electric vehicle roadmap – like others companies inside Automatic and motorcycle industry has been. But what seems clear now is that Harley is finally looking to her future rather than her past.
