. But EVs remain a long way from making or breaking Harley's top or bottom line.
The structure of the channel, from how electric bikes are sold to the servicing, will get harder to change down the road, and given the potential in the EV market, Kennison said getting it right for corporate and franchise dealerships should be a goal. But he said it is unreasonable to expect much from any new bike introduced this year since the team running the stand-alone EV business is still so new and the product development cycle barely begun.
Nelson, who also covers Tesla, says the biggest lesson from the EV market has been how critically important range anxiety is to the consumer, and that's why he remains skeptical. "The LiveWire touring range isn't even close to where consumers buy it in volume," he said. "Every business you're in that has a consumer, you need to constantly innovate and excite your consumer about your brand, about your product, and I don't take it as an answer that, you know, you are on a secular decline," he said. "Of course your existing customer gets older, but you have to make sure as a brand that you're bringing new people into the sport, into riding, into the experience.
In the past, he says, the company's management didn't look at profitability first, but was primarily focused on market share, and that required a lot of promotional pricing of bikes.In addition to electric bikes, Harley took its first bike into the adventure touring market this year, the Pan America, which has been well received by the market.
"I'm always a little careful when using the word 'experience,'" he told CNBC. "You can do the same thing wrong for 20 years."
I await the next Brando to say: I will plug you,..right after I plug my Harley - 'Electrification is a given,' says Harley CEO Jochen Zeitz, but HOG's EV success is less certain
Stick with it; that's a beautiful bike.
thanks