How Harley-Davidson's All-In Bet on Its Past Crippled Its Future
Harley’s longtime bread and butter has been Baby Boomers, those who
grew up enamored with the outlaw image to the point that they were
willing to spend $20,000 or more on the bikes and leather to live out
that image. But the Boomers are getting older, increasingly physically
unable to ride or dying out entirely. And Harley’s response—an electric
bike called the LiveWire set to debut next year—isn’t so much of a Hail Mary as it is a capitulation. It also won’t be nearly enough.
“I
think they have to completely reinvent the brand, and I don’t know if
they can do it,” Erik Gordon, an assistant professor at the University
of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, said. “The jokes are true. When I
go down the freeway, I always look to see if this cliche about Harley
riders is true. And the crazy thing is that it is true. I don’t think
I’ve seen anyone under 55.
“My generation viewed Harleys as American fast, loud, muscle. We liked
that stuff,” Gordon said. “[My students] view it as the tired old folks
who screwed up America.”
(Jalopnik.com)
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