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[JaimeC]

Zero is no longer a US-based company!
https://www.motorcycle.com/bikes/zero-is-moving-to-europe-44650621

[Richard230]

You don't suppose this has anything to do with Trump's hate of all EV's, do you? I have no doubt that the Netherlands will be a much more welcoming location to build their electric motorcycles: https://www.motorcycle.com/bikes/zero-is-moving-to-europe-44650621

[ESokoloff]

How does this make America Great Again?

[JaimeC]

It kinda makes sense. In Europe, motorcycles have always been legitimate forms of transportation and with the high price of gasoline small, efficient motorcycles are everywhere. It only makes sense a motorcycle that doesn't even burn gasoline would be popular. Sadly here in the States, motorcycles are just toys. I'm one of the very few people I know who owns and uses a motorcycle as my primary means of transportation. Since they are considered toys, most Americans want the fanciest, flashiest or most powerful ones they can get; never mind they're not practical for anything more than showing off at a biker gathering or hanging out in a bar. I guess that's why we were stuck for years with an S/DS with only a pitiful 7.2kWh battery while the Europeans got the full 14.4kWh one.

[DonTom]

It kinda makes sense. In Europe, motorcycles have always been legitimate forms of transportation and with the high price of gasoline small, efficient motorcycles are everywhere. It only makes sense a motorcycle that doesn't even burn gasoline would be popular. Sadly here in the States, motorcycles are just toys. I'm one of the very few people I know who owns and uses a motorcycle as my primary means of transportation. Since they are considered toys, most Americans want the fanciest, flashiest or most powerful ones they can get; never mind they're not practical for anything more than showing off at a biker gathering or hanging out in a bar. I guess that's why we were stuck for years with an S/DS with only a pitiful 7.2kWh battery while the Europeans got the full 14.4kWh one.

I heard around a year ago that Zero was going to move to the Philippines. I guess they changed their minds.


I went a good six years where a motorcycle ( or two) was my only transportation. But that was back in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Now my dozen bikes are all toys.


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[princec]

I didn't even learn to drive until I was 27! And then only because I got a dog.

I think this is a great move, especially if it'll manage to lop ultimately 20-30% off of the price of a Zero, which would make them almost competitive with the competition. If they had any sense they'll still move the manufacturing to the Philippines (or anywhere else where labour is cheap) too like every other manufacturer, which would further reduce the cost, and further cement the complete meltdown of the world economy under late-stage capitalism

Cas

[Specter]

They have been saying for a while that they were divesting from the us, looking at india / phillippines.

it has nothing to do with Trump, or your hatred of Trump, this move was in the pipeline for a few year now.

Basically they screwed themselves in the US with a crappy product that ate them alive with recalls and other warranty work.
the product got better, but too little too late, and their name was soured already so that gave them even more incentive to move
India is a fledgling market for the type of product they put out, yes they been running bikes and scooters there for years but this is something with a bit more power.  Couple that with cheap labor and they can really pump them out, couple that with laxer qa laws and you can REALLY pump out a product.  Then the Phillippines came into their eyes, basically same setup as India, but perhaps a bit more innovation there.
Now that the American taxpayer handout has gone away for electric vehicles, there is even less of an incentive to get one when you have to actually pay for the thing yourself.
so lets see, way better market overseas, no more handouts in the USA, Commiefornia treating business like a personal piggy bank to rob at will.  oh and btw all the free munny that state promised all the ev manufacturers, Energica included, magically failed to materialize too.  It only makes sense for them to move to greener pastures.  The only reason they keep that plant open in ca I bet is so they can still qualify to get under the tarriff blanket, plus there are still significant bikes here that will need servicing so it can be a convenient hub for that and parts as well.

They said they were moving, they did, only thing new is they picked Europe as their hub instead of their original intent of India / Phillippines.  Europe has the potential of being a huge market for bikes as well.

HOPEFULLY they prosper there, as one really hates to see any electric vehicle manufacturer go down.

Time will tell

Aaron

[mdjak1]

Doesn't this make sense?   They moved most of their manufacturing out of the USA to Asia a couple of years back.   Manufacturing labor costs in Northern CA were just too high.   

The US market for electric motorcycles doesn't seem as strong as Europe.   So basing more of the marketing and administration in Europe makes some sense.   The US is still a good place for higher value, higher paying engineering work.  This seems like it will remain in Scotts Valley.   Plus to sell in the USA they still need a distribution point, parts warehouse and service center for dealer service training.   No doubt that will remain in Scotts Valley too.

They already had a company in Netherlands.   If you look at the employment page of their website they are now looking for more upper admin staff.  But they are also still looking to hire in Scotts Valley too. 

https://zeromotorcycles.com/employment

I'm most curious what will happen to the FX and FXE, the two models that as of the 2025 model year were still built in CA.   Do the build numbers justify moving the production to Asia?   I can't imagine that building them in Netherlands is any more cost effective than just maintaining CA production.   So maybe those will remain built in USA?

[NEW2elec]

I expect a focus on their new XE/XB platform.
Although they scored about dead last in head to head match ups with the Chinese competition in that category.

I think they should have kept the gen 2 frames with a few more enhancements learned from the SRS/DSRX as the smaller lighter size worked better for the lower power options of the DSR/DS/S.
Losing the simple small C13  plug and Andersen connection worked against the short commute guys.