autoevolution
 

Polaris Buys Brammo's Bike-Manufacturing Business

Polaris and Brammo announced a new tie-up between the two companies, with the former acquiring the electric motorcycle manufacturing division of the latter. Polaris got their hands on a hefty part of Brammo's business, which will grant access to its electric drivetrain technologies, and provide a very convenient way of tapping into the big-bucks electric two- and three-wheeler segment.
Bramo Empulse RR, the electric racing bike 1 photo
Photo: Brammo
Basically, this major move in the electric motorcycle business will have two important results. On one hand, Polaris will take over the manufacturing process from Brammo, while on the other hand Brammo will change their status from drivetrain developer AND bike manufacturer dropping the latter. This is not the first time Polaris is involved with Brammo, as back in 2011, the automotive giant has also invested $28 million (now around €24.2 mil) helping the company grow and develop their business plans.

Better at tech development than at selling bikes

Truth is, Brammo have been wearing a hat which was too big for them and had to battle on two fronts. One was the obvious technological one, having to develop new drivetrains and transmissions to provide better performance, more reliability and power efficiency, while the other dealt with actually selling those bikes.

The past years have showed that Brammo was way better at creating electric bikes than selling them, as a potential deal with Best Buy came down in flames and Brammo’s efforts to put up a strong dealership network proved a rather fruitless endeavor. So that's why the recent tie between the two companies is such a promising move.

Polaris has the expertise and the infrastructure for selling motorcycles, because this is a solid chunk of their actual business, with Indian and Victory. They also come with all their knowledge in marketing and selling other types of vehicles, and even more, they have a very strong presence in markets Brammo can only dream of.

Freed from the heavy burden of being forced to find ways to sell mote bikes, Brammo will return to technological development and bettering their EV powertrains, no longer caring in which way would their product be integrated in the bikes they hoped to sell. This will be Polaris’ business, and hopefully they will be able to significantly increase the sales volumes to make everything worth the effort.

Brammo was sort of starting to lose it, rumor has it, as the poor sales were nothing near enough for sustaining the business, but now things have better prospects once more. So far the brand name for the electric bikes Polaris will be selling is unknown, even though we suspect that the Brammo badge will be kept in place.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories