Following its decision to open an R&D Center in Southern France and announce a range of Can-Am branded electric motorcycles, BRP has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Great Wall Motor Austria GmbH, an EV R&D Center based at Kottingbrunn, near Vienna in Austria. Previously owned and operated by Great Wall Motor based in Baoding, China, it specializes in e-drive systems and transmissions and currently employs over 50 "very qualified and experienced engineers, technicians and professionals."
Performance Brokerage Services has announced the sale of Pocono Mountain H-D in Tannersville, Pennsylvania, from Jim and Linda Schlier to former senior Harley executives Steve and Anne Deli's American Road Group. The Schliers bought the store, then located in Snydersville, Pa., in 2013. The dealership will retain the name Pocono Mountain H-D and remain at the state-of-the-art current location it moved to in 2020.
The name American Bantam is to make a powersports industry comeback. The Pennsylvania business was the designer and builder of the original U.S. Army Jeep in 1940. The new American Bantam Car Corp. will introduce what it is describing as a new class of vehicle - "Street-Legal Off Road" - designed for ATV/SxS buyers. CEO and founder Charlie Paglee describes American Bantam as "a heritage mobility brand bringing cutting edge plug-in hybrid-electric powertrain technology to propel the off-road industry into the 21st century."
Capital World Investors (CWI) has filed a 13G schedule with the SEC disclosing ownership of more than 5% of Polaris Industries Inc (PII). In fact, CWI has increased its ownership stake from 6.22% of the company to be currently holding 5,980,373 shares, representing 10.1% ownership of the company. This puts them ahead of the 9.72% owned by Vanguard Group, BlackRock Inc. (8.07%) and State Street Corp (6.95%) as the only investors with greater than a 5% stake. There are 899 funds or institutions reporting positions in PII - a decrease of 90 owners and 9.10% in the last three months.
AdvRider.com reports that Siemens Energy, Porsche and a line-up of international companies are implementing a pilot project in Chile that is expected to yield the world's first integrated commercial, industrial-scale plant for making synthetic climate-neutral fuels (e-fuels). In the pilot phase, around 130,000 liters of e-fuels will be produced as early as this year. In two further phases, capacity is then to be increased to about 55 million liters of e-fuels a year by 2024, and around 550 million liters by 2026. Porsche will be the primary customer for the green fuel and will use it in beacon projects. Those include using the e-fuel in vehicles for Porsche motorsports, at the Porsche Experience Centers and possibly also in serial production sports cars. The project takes advantage of the availability of wind energy in southern Chile and the fuel will allow vehicles with combustion engines, including motorcycles, to be operated almost climate-neutrally. Porsche has recently increased its stake in e-fuels group HIF Global, which is planning a potential A$1bn production plant in Australia to make e-fuels, modeled on the plant in southern Chile. Ducati is said to be eying e-fuels too - both Porsche and Ducati are subsidiaries of the Volkswagen Audi Group (VAG).
Triumph Motorcycle has announced the acquisition of British electric motorcycle manufacturer OSET Bikes - "a leader in the world of children’s electric off-road motorcycles." Founded in 2004 by Ian Smith, OSET has sold more than 40,000 bikes globally that feature its inhouse developed electric powertrains. Triumph says that the OSET deal "sits within our 2020 announced strategy of entering the off-road segment." OSET Bikes offers products that are suitable for any rider, starting from three years old and upwards.
H-D has appointed former 14-year PWC executive Tralisa Maraj as Chief Financial Officer at LiveWire - she will take over the financial heavy lifting from Harley CFO Gina Goetter, who had been double jobbing as an interim LiveWire CFO. Maraj formerly served as both CFO and Corporate Secretary for CGX Energy Inc. and as Corporate Controller at Remora Energy Management.
Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MSNW, Electrek, electricmotorcycles.news, RideApart.com, Motor1.com, Cycle World, motorbikewriter.com