https://www.businessinsider.com/harl...stanley-2019-2

Harley-Davidson wants to build electric bikes — but a pick-up truck is what the company really needs, one analyst says• Harley-Davidson unveiled two electric concepts last week, with one aimed directly at city-dwellers.• Those come ahead of the company's hotly anticipated launch of its first full-size electric motorcycle later this year.• But it may be too little too late, says Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley. Instead, he suggests the brand look to four wheels. Harley-Davidson is going electric. It has to. In the face of four years of declining sales, the iconic motorcycle brand is set to launch its first full-size electric motorcycle later this year— and has even more electric concepts aimed at city-dwellers in the pipeline.But Adam Jonas, a widely followed automotive analyst for Morgan Stanley, says the Wisconsin-based brand's efforts might be better focused on things with four wheels. Harley's LiveWire is set to start at around $30,000 — and is limited to a 95 mph top speed. Harley-Davidson "Auto companies are allocating more resources towards pickup trucks and full sized SUVs in recent years," he said in a note to clients Wednesday. "but many (particularly foreign OEMs) lack the brand authenticity to match the segment." Brand authenticity is basically the only thing Harley has going for it. After all, the 116-year-old brand is known worldwide and its hardcore fanatics stock up on merchandise like a child at Disneyland. The full-size pickup truck market — easily one of the most lucrative for automakers — hit 2.4 million units in 2018, Jonas says. And with Ford, GM, Chevrolet, and Ram accounting for 93% of that volume, Jonas asks: "Could there be room for more than just these 4 brands?" This doesn't mean Harley would have to learn how to build four-wheelers. There's already been a Harley-branded F-150 for more than two decades. And a silent motorcycle is one that Jonas and his team on Wall Street "struggle" to conceptualize. Instead, the team is "exploring the possibility of the brand being valuable to an established or emerging auto manufacturer." Can four-wheelers save Harley? Maybe.