Livewire, an electric motorcycle brand jointly funded by Kymco and Harley-Davidson, was listed on Nasdaq in the United States today, taking a major step forward for Taiwanese motorcycle brands.
Kymco and Harley-Davidson have joined forces to invest in a new electric motorcycle brand Livewire, which listed on Nasdaq today. As announced last year, Kymco and Harley-Davidson each invested US$100 million and Kymco acquired 4% equity, becaming the main private equity shareholder. Livewire was listed through a backdoor listing (SPAC) under the ticker symbol LVWR.
Not only is Livewire Harley's electric vehicle brand but also a new attempt by Harley to break away from its existing brand framework and challenge different possibilities through the trend of electric vehicles. It is also for this reason that there is an opportunity to cooperate with Kymco.
▲Livewire Rings the Bell on Nasdaq （Source：Kymco）
From the perspective of Livewire, the development speed of Taiwan's electric scooters surprised them. In just 5 years, the market share of electric scooters has changed from 0 to nearly 20%. It can be said to be one of the rare miracles in the world. The affordable speed and power exchange system are the advantages that Livewire can borrow.
Through this cooperation, Kymco first obtained the opportunity to manufacture Livewire models in the future and also obtained the cooperation of Livewire technology. The Livewire power system will be used as the platform to develop new markets on their next heavy electric motorcycle.
"Kymco electric scooters will not stop at mere urban models, but will also take advantage of this cooperation to enter the field of electric manual transmission vehicles and heavy motorcycles" stated Allan Ko, Chairman of Kymco Group. The fastest possible time to see a new vehicle built by Kymco on the Livewire platform is the Milan Auto Show in November this year.
On the other hand, as Livewire's production partner, when Livewire wants to expand into markets other than the United States in the future, Kymco's cost management and car-making technology will be a powerful tool for Livewire to create affordable cars, reduce prices, and expand market share. Like most U.S. companies, Livewire also has strict requirements on the carbon emissions of its partners. Therefore, Kymco is also undergoing a series of transformations, hoping to transform into a net-zero emission factory, so that Taiwan can become not only a kingdom of electric scooters, but also an important production center of electric heavy motorcycles.
After Livewire went public, the opening price was $9.085, the stock price shot up to $11 at one point, and fell at $9 at press time. The total number of issued shares is 1.026 million shares.
（Image：Livewire）