We all know there’s some serious trouble behind closed doors at Harley-Davidson. While that does affect all of us, we need to focus on is what’s happening outside and how the brand aims to cater to us (its customers). In that regard, the bikemaker has recently dropped hints about its plans to whip up new entry-level machines. While it was the company’s soon-to-retire CEO, the remarks come from the Vice President for International Markets this time. Let’s dive in.
Harley-Davidson Is Working On A ‘Stepping Stone’ For New Riders
The news comes via our friends at Motorcycle News who recently interviewed Kolja Rebstock, Harley-Davidson’s Vice President for International Markets. The top honcho revealed how the discontinuation of the Evo Sportsters has left a gaping hole in the lineup. While the recent price drop for the Nightster fixes that to an extent, there’s been no such revision in Britain or Europe. That means the price for entry in the Harley-Davidson family is €16,900.
Convert that to dollars, and you’ll realize that’s almost twice as much as in the US. This is precisely why Harley-Davidson wants to whip up new entry-level (and affordable) motorcycles. The idea is to whip up something on the lines of the X440 sold in India (made by Hero MotoCorp) to compete with the Honda GB350 and Royal Enfield Classic 350. Both these are super popular across the pond. A couple of such bikes are already in the pipeline in India, as confirmed by trademark filings.
Kolja Rebstock, Harley-Davidson’s Vice President for International Markets, says:
We lost volume when we discontinued the Sportster model line-up which was very successful. Unfortunately, it wasn’t contributing too much from a financial point of view to the company. That’s the challenge – how can we enter the market with smaller displacement entry-level products that still give us the financial outcome needed? People in R&D are focusing on this topic. There’s a need – I can’t disclose what’s in the pipeline, but we understood that we need a stepping stone into the brand.
There Is Also A Focus On Diversifying Harley-Davidson’s Portfolio
Adding to this, Rebstock shares the new entry-level machines is also an attempt to diversify the portfolio. Large cruisers and touring bikes have been Harley’s staple for a long time, but this has isolated the bikemaker in a way. The variety of such bikes from Japanese and European companies–that too, at a much lower price–doesn’t help the case either. You should also know the once impressive sales of the Pan America have tapered off in recent times. A similar successful experiment is the need of the hour again.
Kolja Rebstock Explains:
We are still seen as the company that has only Softail models, like our iconic Fat Boy, and the big touring bikes. But that’s not true – we have a much wider model range. I’m still surprised when I speak to people who do not know what a fantastic adventure touring motorcycle we have been selling since 2021 with the Pan America. The pipeline is full of great ideas for the future.
Read the full article here