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 ...
/sarc
Make the front end look like Ford Edsel to finish the makeover.
I hear the EV Harleys with an electric “zoom zoom” sound so the deaf grannies can hear you coming up behind them.
Kinda like the toy cars we had as a kids.
Don’t think the Hell’s Angels types will go big for this.
Electric Ducati
I don’t ride but I had two brothers who rode, and it seems to me that the attractions were:
The “putt-putt-putt-putter-putt” idle followed by the roaring thunder when the light turns green.
I don’t think many Harley riders give a damn how they’d come out in a race with a BMW. In addition to the sound, they care about a good place to enjoy the ride and a good place to stop for a burger and a beer.
“I predict that the most successful motor vehicle companies in the future will be those that continue to build ICE powered vehicles. Those that go all EVs will be “Darwined’ out of the market.”
uh, Tesla ...
There’s always baseball card with clothespins, for the front spokes...
“Kinda like the toy cars we had as a kids.”
I really doubt you had a 200 mph toy car ...
Harley Davidson: DOA.
I’m pretty sure that the riders in the MCs that like the bikes know how to repair them, so a large part of HD’s customer base will now go up in smoke.
I really doubt you understood my post.
It was the sound of the toy cars
To be replaces with filtered/treated municipal water and insect burgers.
I don’t doubt that for a second. There will always be an aftermarket, and I am sure boutique shops will flourish.
A free economy is a fascinating thing.
Harley sales of new bikes has plummeted because aging Boomers are selling their Hogs. Used Harley’s can be picked up at bargain prices.
Actually this idiot just made my gas powered Harleys worth more money.
Actually this idiot just made my gas powered Harleys worth more money.
...ir maybe rainbow colored, that would be gay.
“So they are lying, promising to work hard against their core market demographic,”
That demographic is going away.
Harley plans to offer a high output Maytag motor and I understand another option will be the Max Torque Whirlpool motor.
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