Will Milwaukee spell itself Milwauk-E in the future? Hardly, except maybe for an April Fool’s joke. But the traditional brand from the metropolis in the US state of Wisconsin wants to increasingly rely on electric motorcycles and has announced that it will launch its own, independent division.
The name is that of Harley-Davidson’s first electric motorcycle: LiveWire. “By introducing LiveWire as a fully electric brand, we are seizing the opportunity to lead and define the market for e-vehicles,” said CEO Jochen Zeitz.
The Harley-Davidson LiveWire was presented at the beginning of 2019 together with the Japanese electronics group Panasonic at the technology fair CES in Las Vegas. Now the company has announced another premiere of the LiveWire brand on July 8th. After that, the new model will be shown at the International Motorcycle Show. The company did not initially provide any further information.
For years, Harley-Davidson suffered from a dusty image and an older, conservative clientele. The long-established company is trying to appeal to younger groups of buyers with e-motorcycles and more modern products (such as the Pan America travel enduro). Business has been going much better recently. Now Europe threatens a setback due to punitive EU tariffs.