Polaris, the powersports giant has taken over Brammo

Polaris – Polaris Industries announced the acquisition of Brammo, the electric motorcycle manufacturing company, currently based in Talent, Oregon.

Polaris has been a “strategic investor” in Brammo since 2011 and the two companies have “collaborated on a number of projects on motorcycles, off-road vehicles and on-road vehicles“, we read in the press release. Polaris will act as leading investor in recapitalization by Brammo, a move that will allow the e-moto company to “focus exclusively on the design, development and integration of electric vehicle powertrains.”

As a result of the acquisition Polaris plans to begin production of electric motorcycles during the second half of 2015 at its facility in Spirit Lake, Iowa. “Our collaboration with Brammo Motorcycles over the past three years has been very important and our enthusiasm for their industry-leading lithium-ion electric powertrain technology has increased commensurate with its improvement in cost and performance. Polaris and Brammo share the goal of adding the most advanced and highest capacity electric solutions to the leading powersports product portfolio of Polaris,” he said Scott Wine, President and CEO of Polaris. “Today's announcement reinforces not only Polaris, but also its commitment to providing our consumers with lithium-ion electric solutions. The capabilities of this partnership will allow us to continue to innovate and develop electric propulsion technology,” Wine added. “We expect a return on these investments and believe the new path will bring us much closer to providing world-class electrical solutions through our products.”

In recent years Polaris has become a true giant in the sector powersports. In 2011 Polaris took over the Indian Motorcycles, immediately relaunching the brand. Other brands within the Polaris portfolio include Goupil, a French manufacturer that also designs electric vehicles, the Aixam Mega, a manufacturer of on-road quadricycles and light commercial vehicles for the European market and Global Electric Motorcars, which Polaris purchased from Chrysler in 2011. It also holds a number of government contracts to supply tactical vehicles for defense forces around the world.