Harley-Davidson stops production of Livewire electric bike

American bikemaker Harley-Davidson has been for some time now struggling with its international sales, which is why the iconic motorcycle maker has been looking to roll out new products designed to connect with a new set of buyers. Among the many bets was the range of electric bikes last year.

In 2018, Harley-Davidson celebrated its 115th anniversary and first showcased the production version of its electric motorcycle. In January 2019, the company announced pricing and pre-order availability for the production-ready Livewire electric motorcycle at CES 2019. The 2020 LiveWire was available for pre-ordering in the US for $29,799 (Rs 21 lakh) with the deliveries expected in the second half of CY2019.

According to a news report in Bloomberg, the company has announced that it has halted production of the Livewire electric motorcycle. The report further says that Harley-Davidson recently discovered an issue during final quality checks, according to an emailed statement that doesn’t provide details. It further said the motorcycle maker stopped production and deliveries as it conducts additional testing and analysis.

Livewire deliveries were initially supposed to begin in August, but the company said during an investor day on September 24 that it was holding back the bikes to make sure they were perfect, according to James Hardiman, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, says Bloomberg.