Photo: autoevolution.com
Certain fans of classic cruisers already say that Victory Motorcycles is too forward-thinking and too futuristic in its approach to bike-making. Well, some of these fellows have one more reason to raise an eyebrow, because Polaris has just filed a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a the word mark “Victory Charger”. Is this a hint which foretells a Victory-badged electric cruiser story? Maybe yes, maybe no, but either way, things are already so much more exciting.
Victory is owned by Polaris and was used from the beginning to be an alternative to Harley’s classic cruisers. So far Victory failed to pose a real threat to the MoCo, but the attacks are incessant. Even more, after Polaris bought and revived Indian Motorcycle, the whole game changed to a completely new level.
Indian is older than Harley and has a massive fan base. Despite the fact that Indian was not faring that well after 2000, the massive investment from Polaris delivered a spectacular re-entry in the market and provided people looking for an alternative to Harley with even more choices.
First of all, the money spent on Brammo must be put to work as soon as possible for a quick return of investment without losing momentum. The second reason is to keep up with Harley and its Project LiveWire bike, the company’s debut electric bike. Third and maybe even more important than anything is the fact that a quick move from Polaris may give them the upper hand in the e-cruiser segment.
Harley is using drivetrains which contain massive Mission Motors technology, but Mission is not exactly doing too well lately and if this situation is not mended, the MoCo and its LiveWire are going to have difficulties making solid progress. Of course, this leads to a speculation that Harley could buy Mission Motors in reply to Polaris’ move and keep up with the development of the LiveWire, but if this is envisioned at Milwaukee it’s impossible to tell now.
What is however certain is the fact that Polaris intends to use the Victory Charger name for “Electric motorcycles and structural parts therefor” and this means we might get to see an e-cruiser, maybe even this fall. How do an electric Cross Country or Vision sound to you?
Indian is older than Harley and has a massive fan base. Despite the fact that Indian was not faring that well after 2000, the massive investment from Polaris delivered a spectacular re-entry in the market and provided people looking for an alternative to Harley with even more choices.
Polaris buys Brammo, definitely plans to make good use of it
Recently Polaris acquired the bike manufacturing part of Brammo, leaving the company in charge of powertrain R&D and taking the motorcycle making and selling burden off their shoulders. Seeing Polaris already making a move in the electric motorcycle business is only natural because of at least three reasons.First of all, the money spent on Brammo must be put to work as soon as possible for a quick return of investment without losing momentum. The second reason is to keep up with Harley and its Project LiveWire bike, the company’s debut electric bike. Third and maybe even more important than anything is the fact that a quick move from Polaris may give them the upper hand in the e-cruiser segment.
Harley is using drivetrains which contain massive Mission Motors technology, but Mission is not exactly doing too well lately and if this situation is not mended, the MoCo and its LiveWire are going to have difficulties making solid progress. Of course, this leads to a speculation that Harley could buy Mission Motors in reply to Polaris’ move and keep up with the development of the LiveWire, but if this is envisioned at Milwaukee it’s impossible to tell now.
What is however certain is the fact that Polaris intends to use the Victory Charger name for “Electric motorcycles and structural parts therefor” and this means we might get to see an e-cruiser, maybe even this fall. How do an electric Cross Country or Vision sound to you?
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