Posted on 01/22/2023 10:19:40 AM PST by MtnClimber
I can’t think of a worse example of a corporate CEO misreading his customer base than this via the Robb Report (Hat tip: Ed Driscoll, Instapundit)
“At some point in time, Harley Davidson will be all-electric,” the executive [Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz] recently told Dezeen. “But that’s a long-term transition that needs to happen. It’s not something you do overnight.”
Zeitz’s pronouncement seems guaranteed to make a not-insignificant portion of the manufacturer’s customer base cringe. For many enthusiasts, the thing that really sets a Harley apart from other motorcycles—American-made or otherwise—is a thunderously loud internal combustion engine. But the company knows that no matter how important those large-displacement mills might be change is on the horizon.
Maybe by “long term” he means several generations from now. If not, this is a surefire recipe for disaster.
With a battery much bigger than the electric motor, the look won't be nearly as appealing
Perhaps it is just an attempt to pre-empt critics, possibly including the CEO’s college indoctrinated children, claiming that Harley emissions are making “the oceans boil” as Al Gore recently claimed at Davos, after deplaning from his Gulfstream private jet, the Flying Squirrel.
But after all, what does Harley-Davidson really have to offer aside from a bad boy image connected to loud exhaust pipes...
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
The corporate suicide happened when they put this guy in charge.
Jochen Zeitz - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jochen_Zeitz
Sounds like he’s serious about destroying the company.
“For many enthusiasts, the thing that really sets a Harley apart from other motorcycles—American-made or otherwise—is a thunderously loud internal combustion engine....” Yes, that thunderous sound, and the firing sequence of the cylinders, which gives a Harley its unique sound in all the world. IMHO, Harley should be on suicide watch, unless the whisper quiet electrics are only an optional choice, and the big, loud “Hogs” continue to rule the roads.
Does sound familiar.......🚲
The average Harley buyer is a man in his early 50s, married, making over $90K a year. Which has a pretty strong overlap with the average Prius buyer (mid-60s, $108K). I think this move is simply seeing the handwriting on the wall. Marlon Brando and Sonny Barger are dead, along with most everybody else that built the original Harley image.
I don’t have any experience with riding a motorcycle, I did have a Honda dirt bike as a kid, the decision is similar to Coke coming out with “New Coke” back in the day.
The took a product that had been fabulously successful for decades and tried to improve it.
Harley-Davidson is doing the same thing, taking a highly successful product and trying to improve it based on being politically correct which will end in disaster I predict.
Buy an Indian.
No pun intended to Pocohantis!
The Viet Nam era Harley riders are dying out. Harley probably isn’t getting them replaced fast enough and they may be losing market.
This is what you get from having woke MBAs running your company, and not real engineers.
The point was to replace sugar with High Fructose Corn Syrup. So people were happy that at least "Classic" Coke tasted like the old Coke.
Maybe they’re following the market.
Has there been an upturn in the number of pink bikes they sell?
We’ve got some Harley dealer friends I need to send this to. Just damn.
It’s yet another step in eliminating all forms of personal transportation.
Hells Angel’s ate really looking forward to these incredible machines
/S
Road trips won’t be possible
Wonder what the 1% think of this
I don’t think it’s “woke”; it’s financial. In 10 years or so, a huge market for motorcycles and autos will be limited to electric only. In fact some larger European manufacturers will not maintain lines for IC drive trains AND electric. It’s not economically viable.
So, Harley has to consider how to stay alive and relevant when that transition comes overseas and eventually in the US.
I doubt if the HD traditionalists in their corner offices like this very much. But their choices are being regulated away.
What fool hired this guy and what sort of corporate board tolerates his continued employment?
“You cant make an electric bike look, ride, sound, feel or pound the earth beneath you like a Harley.”
Thank goodness!
Anybody on a Harley Davos gets to ride in the car pool lane.
Real Men would never ride an EV , murp murp
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