H-D sparks up as Trump arks up
The Motor Company now has equity in electric motorcycle start-up Alta Motors – and the American icon has also been in the news for other reasons as well…Harley-Davidson has already announced that it will be releasing its first electric motorcycle within 18 months, and now it’s now pushed even further into the space by making an equity investment in California-based startup Alta Motors.
Alta Motors is a leader and innovator in lightweight electric vehicles, and will now collaborate on electric motorcycle technology and new product development alongside the American icon – with Harley’s first electric bike an obvious starting point for the partnership to bear production fruit.
"Earlier this year, as part of our 10-year strategy, we reiterated our commitment to build the next generation of Harley-Davidson riders, in part, by aggressively investing in electric vehicle (EV) technology," said Harley-Davidson President and CEO Matt Levatich.
The value of the transaction between Harley-Davidson and Alta Motors – backed by Tesla co-founders Marc Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard – has not been made public.
Meanwhile, while Harley-Davidson was spruiking its new investment, the company inadvertently found itself front and centre of some fierce trade barbs fired between US president Donald Trump and European leaders.
Trump fired the first salvo – seemingly already looking ahead to re-election in 2020 – by declaring that he would impose and a tariff of 25 per cent on American imports of steel and 10 per cent on aluminium to protect American jobs in those sectors. That angered the Europeans, who said they would retaliate by targeting American whiskey, jeans and – you guessed it – motorcycles (ie Harley-Davidson the inferred target).
This could get nasty, so watch this space – Matt Levatich certainly will be…
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