Latest / The Pivot Podcast with Fexingo: How Businesses Change Direction and Survive Disruption / How Harley Davidson Pivoted From Outlaw to Electric Future
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this moment in 2019 when Harley-Davidson, the company that literally built its brand on loud, rumbling V-twin engines, rolls out an electric motorcycle called the LiveWire. And the reaction from the core Harley faithful is — well, let's just say it's not exactly a roar of approval. Luna: I remember some of the forum posts. Guys calling it a 'hair dryer on wheels.' But Harley wasn't just testing an electric model. They were signaling a much bigger pivot. Lucas: Exactly. And that's where we're going today — the story of how a 123-year-old manufacturer of heavyweight motorcycles tried to reinvent itself without losing the very identity that made it iconic. Because the numbers are stark. Harley's global sales peaked at around 262,000 units in 2014. By 2025, they were down to roughly 152,000. That's a 42 percent drop. Luna: And the core customer — white, male, over 50 — is literally aging out of the market. So the pivot isn't optional. It's survival. Lucas: Right. And you know, if these conversations have moved your work forward in some small way, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it really helps keep the show independent and ad-free. Just a small thing. Lucas: So back to the LiveWire. The bike itself was impressive on paper — 0 to 60 in about three seconds, a range of 146 miles in city riding. But the price tag was $29,799, which put it squarely in luxury territory. Luna: And the early adopters were not exactly the traditional Harley buyer. More tech-forward, younger, urban. A different tribe. Lucas: Harley knew that. So in 2021, they took the bold step of spinning off LiveWire into a separate public company through a merger with a SPAC called aea bridges Impact Corp. The deal valued LiveWire at $1.77 billion. Luna: That seems generous for a company that hadn't sold more than a few hundred bikes at that point. Lucas: It was. But the idea was to give LiveWire its own identity, its own management, and access to capital without being constrained by Harley's legacy overhead. And to attract a different kind of investor — someone interested in EV growth, not traditional manufacturing. Luna: So how's that worked out three years later? Lucas: Not great. As of mid-2026, LiveWire's market cap is under $200 million. They've sold maybe a few thousand units total globally. The SPAC market collapsed, enthusiasm cooled, and the execution has been slow. Luna: But it's not just about LiveWire, right? Harley itself has been trying to broaden its appeal — launching smaller-displacement bikes, targeting younger and female riders, even a partnership with Chinese manufacturer Qianjiang. Lucas: Yeah, they introduced the Pan America adventure bike in 2021, which actually got good reviews and helped diversify the lineup. But the core challenge is cultural. Harley's brand equity is built on a specific feeling — rebellion, freedom, the open road — and that feeling is tied to the internal combustion engine. Luna: You can't sell rebellion off a showroom floor. It has to be authentic. And there's a tension between wanting to be sustainable and inclusive while still being 'the outlaw brand.' Lucas: Exactly. And this is the dilemma for any legacy brand facing disruption. Do you try to evolve the core identity, or do you create a separate brand for the new thing? Harley chose both — they kept the core brand making traditional bikes, and LiveWire as the electric play. But the two don't really cross-pollinate. Luna: Compare that to Porsche, which kept the 911 as the icon but built the Taycan as a full electric sedan under the same badge. And it worked — the Taycan outsold the 911 in 2024. Lucas: Right. Porsche didn't spin off the Taycan into a separate company. They leveraged the existing brand halo. But Harley's situation is different because the core product — a loud, heavy cruiser — is almost the antithesis of a quiet, lightweight electric bike. Luna: So maybe the spin-off was the right call. But has it been executed well? Lucas: I think the bigger issue is that LiveWire is still too expensive and the charging infrastructure for motorcycles is practically nonexistent. Even if you want to buy one, where do you charge it? Most public chargers are designed for cars, with cables that are thick and heavy. Luna: And the range is only about 100 miles on the highway. That's a real limitation for the touring crowd. Lucas: So the pivot is still in progress. Harley's overall revenue in 2025 was about $4.4 billion, down from $5.7 billion in 2014. They're profitable, but shrinking. The question is whether LiveWire can eventually scale, or whether Harley needs a more radical transformation. Luna: What would radical look like? Lucas: Some analysts have suggested that Harley could become a lifestyle brand that licenses its name to other products — apparel, accessories, even electric bicycles — and reduces its dependence on motorcycle manufacturing. But that risks diluting the brand further. Luna: Or they could go the other direction and lean even harder into the traditionalist niche, become a premium boutique manufacturer like Morgan Motor Company. Small volumes, high margins, heritage appeal. Lucas: That might sustain the brand for a while, but it wouldn't reverse the sales decline. The reality is that motorcycling overall is declining in developed markets. Younger people are less interested in licenses and more interested in other forms of mobility. Luna: So what's the lesson for other legacy businesses in this kind of pivot? Lucas: I think there are two. First, if you create a separate brand for the new offering, you have to resource it properly and give it real autonomy. LiveWire has been underfunded and under-marketed. Second, you can't ignore the cultural dimension. The new product has to have a story that resonates, not just specs. Luna: And maybe the hardest lesson is that sometimes your core identity is what holds you back. Harley can't be both the rebel brand and the responsible EV brand. At some point, you have to choose. Lucas: Yeah. And that choice is what makes pivot stories so fascinating. It's never just a business decision. It's a decision about who you are.