A veteran Harley man with 26 years at Milwaukee, Mike Kennedy was an advisor to Carolwood LP, the new venture capital owners of Indian Motorcycle, prior to its acquisition from Polaris. Last month he was appointed Indian’s CEO. He talks with Alan Dowds.
Mike Kennedy is no stranger to the two-wheeled world: he’s been in the business since 1989, including 26 years at Harley-Davidson (where he actually ran the UK and Ireland subsidiary from 2004 to 2006). Early on in our conversation he suggested that that experience was important to Carolwood. “If you like the fact that an industry veteran is running the new Indian Motorcycle company, thank the team from Carolwood! Because they had the confidence to say, ‘Hey, we don’t know the motorcycle business, but we love brands. We think this is a unique opportunity, and we’d like you to advise us on a deal and, if we’re successful, to run the company’.”
What’s in store for the brand? Well, it initially sounds like the plan is a bit more ‘America first’, with a tight focus on the home market, starting by returning all manufacturing to the US. Indian under Polaris had production bases in Poland and Vietnam, but those arrangements will now end.
Mike Kennedy, CEO, Indian Motorcycle“We’re going to lean into US manufacturing in a very significant way,” said Kennedy. “We are not continuing the Vietnam facility, and we’ll be winding up production in Poland. Then, we will have all of our global manufacturing at Spirit Lake, Iowa. We also have an aluminium casting and milling facility in Monticello, Minnesota, which is really where the engine gets birthed with the aluminium castings. I have a strong manufacturing background; my father owned a manufacturing company, and I’m quite excited to partner with the people of Iowa and Minnesota to compete globally from the Midwest of America.”
That US focus also seems set to apply to the product lines too, with Kennedy outlining a range based on American-style big V-twin cruisers, tourers and trikes. “We don’t think there’s a reason why we cannot be the number one market share leader in cruisers, baggers and touring, and we expect to enter the trike park very soon,” he said. The FTR flat tracker/muscle cruiser has already been discontinued, and there’s no prospect of Indian making an adventure tourer or similar any time soon.
Kennedy also says that the market outside the US remains important. “I don’t want people to misinterpret our focus on US manufacturing as meaning that we’re not going to be focused commercially outside of the United States. The reality is that, given our capacity, it’s very complex to manage three assembly plants across three continents. Even if we were making 200,000 bikes a year, that would still be a complex manufacturing footprint. So, part of this is to simplify our manufacturing to improve efficiency within the company, which helps turn the company around financially.
“But our effort, commercially in Europe, is only going to be intensified, in my opinion. I’m actually flying out tonight to Spain to meet with all of our European dealers and distributors. And I’m excited to share with them our vision for the future; Europe and the international markets are very much a part of our future going forward.”