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Edited Date/Time
3/1/2018 9:15am
https://www.asphaltandrubber.com/news/harley-davidson-invests-alta-moto…
Hope the influence of HD doesn't drag down Alta, they have been doing a wonderful job.
Hope the influence of HD doesn't drag down Alta, they have been doing a wonderful job.
Since we know that Alta keeps track of the Social Media links, lets hope that they get it and are on top of this potential issue!
The Shop
Edit: Worried might be the wrong word. But HD being involved doesn't give a positive feeling.
Bizarrely (considering it's from HD), from the get go, to me, it looked like the best of all of the Road E bike projects. Well, other than the MotoCzysx and Mugen / Honda IOM racers.
I never thought HD with it ICE ranges styles, could come up with something that looked so good. Hell, it's a better looking Motorcycle than the vast majority of their bikes. Perhaps because of it being an E bike, and thus , so far from their push rod V Twins, they could separate the whole thing from the 'traditional ' HD 'styles..
But, yes, the whole Buell saga, really makes one think that HD may well do the same to Alta. But, I'd say any investment, and eventual take over by, Any current large scale manufacturer, would lead to Alta 'disappearing'. It's just the nature of such things.
Better to congratulate the Alta team on bringing game changing tech to market on their terms and seeing that commitment pay off. This to me only means positive direction for Alta and likely more competitive pricing.
Good for Alta: capital, manufacturing, dealer networking
Good for Harley: technology, revitalization, diversification
Pit Row
I’d imagine if anything you’ll be buying an “ALTA-hd” the hd isn’t gonna add $3000 to the price. People won’t pay it. They’re really trying to reduce costs at Alta.....they gotta get the price point down and with this partnership it will help to do just that.
The market in Europe needs a competitive electric bike like Alta considering that the EU regulations are getting stricter and stricter.
I've worked for 3 venture-backed companies. One raised a couple million, the second raised about 50 million, and the company I work for now has raised well over 200 million. The latter has a number of strategic partners who have invested in the company and are also customers. They invest in us so that they can have early/customized access to our technology. When a company "in your space" (IE Harley is in the motorcycle space and so is Alta) invests in you, it is almost 100% done as a strategic move for the investor to acquire access to knowledge/technology for their own products.
In this case, Harley gets a leg up on electric motorcycles and likely some equity in Alta. Alta gets capital and more publicity. Win-win. If a fellow MX company wanted to invest in Alta, they probably would not have done it, but Harley is far enough away from Alta's market that any marriage between the two companies is advantageous to both.
Zookie: there seems to be a fair amount of joint development with this deal. The last time something like this happened with an innovative company that would diversify HDs portfolio it did not end well for Buell.
Of course none of us (so far) have inside details on the deal so this is all educated speculation.
Harley branding, dealership network, capital, and manufacturing would be a boon to any motorcycle company. But if Harley management is added to the mix, the fit can become a whole lot more questionable.
Post a reply to: Is this good for Alta? (Harley Davidson Investment)