Polaris successfully acquired the e-bike maker Brammo, which now leaves the Brammo name and the Oregon-based factory’s future halfway. Polaris was one of Brammo’s biggest investor but now it has decided to “recapitalize” it and focus primarily on the design, integration and development of electric vehicles. Polaris also mentioned it would begin the manufacturing of electric motorcycles in the second half of 2015. Brammo has been manufacturing its Empulse/R and Enertia e-bikes since a long time now, with slight modifications year over year. The company has also offered deep discounts on these bikes in the recent years.
Polaris would also leverage Brammo’s leading and award winning technology in making electric bikes. Though Polaris mentioned that this move would free Brammo to explore and make new concepts, the manufacturing would be shut down, which would affect the talented team at the Oregon factory. Polaris also mentioned that it has enjoyed its investor-ship with Brammo over these 3 years and that its industry-leading lithium-ion electric drivetrain technology has increased the potential of where the motorcycle industry would go, with the help of same technology.
Polaris recently also bought Indian, launched a new model named Victory and also launched a three-wheeled juggernaut. Not only this, but Polaris has been investing deeply in e-bikes ever since its purchase of Global Electric Motorcars in 2011. This move by Polaris was not a shock to the analysts. This move was somewhere down the pipeline because Brammo had been selling the same two models, one of which won many accolades. Brammo’s main competitor, Zero, had been posting in new models every year, while Brammo continued working on the same pace.
Polaris’ acquisition of Brammo has only extended the already broad portfolio the company maintains, which includes snowmobiles, Victory, and Indian Motorcycle. While being an investor ever since 2011, Polaris and Brammo have worked hand in hand throughout with many projects together. The have worked on a number of off-road and on-road vehicles’ projects, and this would just broaden Polaris’ the horizon. Polaris has also been selling the e-cars business, which it acquired from Chrysler.
Brammo’s move, to sell its technology to many OEMs, has not made any changes in the company’s dwindling profits while the two models – Empulse/R and Enertia now fail to excite the audience. With many new companies emphasizing on electric vehicles, Brammo would actually benefit from such a buyout.
