EBR files for Receivership

Just read about this as well. Sad situation. From everything I saw online, the bikes were good and he was backed by Hero in India. Maybe Hero backed out
 
That's too bad, but not really unexpected. It takes very deep pockets these days to run any sort of car or motorcycle manufacturing business. Brands like Indian (Polaris Industries) and CanAm (Bombardier) have been successful recently, but they are big companies to start with. The other ones like Buell or Henderson failed mainly due to running out of money.
 
That's sad but small brands will always have problems. You have to operate in the large European market if you want to sell high end bikes otherwise you just can not sell enough. I also think that smaller manufacturers must be always more expansive and this leads to even fewer clients. Just think even in case you have to buy a more exclusive bike, does it have the same level of finish as the mass market bikes? Testing takes a lot of effort and huge teams that is difficult to effort in smaller companies. Then comes the spare parts struggle (think only about Aprillia) and you have to find a dealer or workshop that can repair and maintain the bike. Even if you do all this yourself there is not as much expertise about repairs compared to more popular models.

I think the only smaller brand that is very successful is Ducati because they produce true beautiful bikes that work. It would be nice to have more individual brands but given the complexity of modern sportbikes the prices just go through the roof and in the end the buyer sticks with the proven, and easy to maintain bikes.
 
Yeah, I'm sad to see them go, but I'm not surprised. The new EBRs are really nice bikes and have gotten very good reviews. The fit and finish is nice. For the EBR specifically they don't price out well. My local Aprilia shop, one of the best motorycle shops period, can't sell them. The reason is the EBRs are parked next to the RSV4's. A customer takes one look at the RSV4 and the EBR is forgotten. Even with the price cut of about $2,000 the EBR is still not a good value when one can buy last years RSV4 for less money. Also Buells are odd. The front brake turns people off, and no one is really familiar with them. Aprilia has won 54 world championships and no one has heard of them. How EBR cracks the perception problem is beyond me.

From what I've read the receivership allows the company to be sold. The rumor going around is Hero may buy them outright. EBR currently has over $20M in debt.

The WSBK program is still going for this year. It sounds as if the team received their sponsorship money up front. That said Larry Pegram stated he will have as statement after this week's races.
 
Agreed! It's disapointing to see a small "David" not make it in the world of "Goliaths". You would like to see people like Erik succeed. Having said that, as a consumer, his bikes didn't meet mine and a lot of others "value proposition". For the money, you could do better.
 
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