Harley Livewire - who cares?

[pekingduck]

i'd take a zero anyday over that thing. having ridden a few they are ok, and they certainly look more modern and flow better (opinion).

I certainly have issues with the company. they havent r&d'd anything noteworthy for decades. everything is massively over priced, and they sell strictly on false nostalgia, so many of the components are from asia its ridiculous. they could have made them here but nope.

as far as ford goes, ford has been a global company for many many decades, and they have done a huge amount of development, same as GM. the reason they dropped sedans in the us is nobody was buying them, but they are alive and well in the world market, make no doubt.

liking a company strictly because its american is kinda pointless. I mean, look at indian. they actually are innovating and filling that nich quite well. they deserve the respect for moving forward in that market, even though its polaris...

willie g had a good run selling a lifestyle, but he dragged it out way too long out of complacency and permanently damaged the name. His ancestors would be rolling in their graves, as they were FOCUSED on innovation, HD lost their way. Maybe they can be reborn, like triumph, indian, etc. But i think it needs to die before it gets new life down the road.

with all the resources HD had, they should have been trying to develop the e bike 15 years ago, no excuses there. and those 'made in india' liquid cooled 500 & 750s they released a few years ago, while decent bikes, were basically copies of the old mid 80's honda shadows and BOMBED sales wise.

the examples above are the reason that it needs to die, they need to clear out the management and get some forward thinkers in there.

rant off.

I agree with what you say, but should point out that the US companies couldn't make a decent sedan since the '70s. Taurus, Tempo, Malibu, Cavalier, K-cars? All gone. 30 year old Corollas and Civics? Still rolling.

So what are young people buying as first new cars? Honda Accords and Civics, Toyota Camrys and Corollas, Nissan Altimas and Sentras, Hyundai Sonatas, Kia Optimas. (Plus Audis and BMWs)

And what brands will their future cars be? Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, and Kia. Once they are used to the build quality, and most importantly, reliability, they aren't likely to switch.

Those $40-60K + Ford, GM and FCA trucks and SUVs are mostly bought by folks in their late 40s to mid-60s. See where this is going?