Harley-Davidson’s CEO confirms it: “We are not going to save it.” LiveWire, its electric motorcycle brand, is on the brink of bankruptcy.
Harley-Davidson’s electric adventure is facing its most critical moment. LiveWire, the brand created to turn the American manufacturer into a leader in the new generation of electric motorcycles, is grappling with a financial crisis that threatens its survival.
And its parent company’s response is becoming increasingly firm: it will no longer provide funding to keep it afloat.
Harley-Davidson plans to stop covering its losses
The message comes at a particularly difficult time. LiveWire has officially acknowledged that there are serious doubts about its ability to continue operating for the next twelve months. It has not declared bankruptcy formally, but the possibility of undergoing a major restructuring is on the table.
Harley-Davidson’s new CEO, Artie Starrs, made the company’s position clear during the presentation of its third-quarter results for 2026.
His message is unambiguous: Harley-Davidson has no intention of continuing to fund LiveWire’s operational losses. The brand will have to find other sources of capital to sustain its operations.
The decision is particularly significant because Harley-Davidson remains the majority shareholder of LiveWire, although the latter has been listed independently on the New York Stock Exchange since September 2022.
Thus, this is not a company completely separate from its creator, but rather one majority-owned by Harley-Davidson that will need to find its own financial solutions.
The numbers illustrate the severity of the situation
LiveWire’s most recent financial results for the first nine months of 2026 show a significant imbalance between revenue and expenses.
The company reported revenues of $22.1 million (about 19 million euros), but incurred operating losses of $53.2 million. The net result was even worse: $55 million in losses.
The cash reserves are also declining rapidly. As of September 30, 2026, LiveWire had $39.9 million in cash, down from $82.8 million at the end of 2025. In other words, it lost more than half of its liquidity buffer in just nine months.
Facing this situation, the board of directors established a special restructuring committee on October 22 and appointed Roy Gallagher to lead the process. His responsibilities include exploring new financing options, a potential capital increase, bringing in partners, or pursuing a sale or corporate restructuring.
The company has also withdrawn its loss projections for the full year of 2026, which previously estimated an operating loss of between 70 and 80 million dollars.
From promising 100,000 units to selling just a few hundred motorcycles
The problems with LiveWire are not new. The brand was officially introduced as an independent electric motorcycle division in 2021, although Harley-Davidson’s electric vehicle project had begun several years earlier.
In its presentation to investors before going public, the company set extraordinarily ambitious goals: to reach approximately 100,000 units per year by 2026 and achieve sales of around $1.8 billion.
It is important to note that these projections covered the entire scope of its electric vehicle business, including motorcycles, electric bicycles, and children’s products under the STACYC brand.
Reality has been very different. In 2025, LiveWire shipped only 653 electric motorcycles, down from 612 in the previous year. Its total sales amounted to $25.7 million, while operating losses reached $75 million.
The company has managed to improve its results compared to 2024, when it lost around $110 million, but this reduction in losses has not been sufficient to create an economically sustainable business.
It is still trying to find a commercial exit
Paradoxically, LiveWire shows some positive business indicators. During the third quarter of 2026, it delivered 241 electric motorcycles, 31% more than in the same period the previous year. Revenue from this division rose to $2.7 million.
In addition, the company claims to hold 80% of the U.S. market for road-legal electric motorcycles with a power output of over 50 kW. This is a high share, but it applies to a very specific segment rather than the entire motorcycle market.
It is also trying to expand its catalog to reach new customers. The new S4 Honcho Trail and S4 Honcho Street models have already begun arriving in the U.S. market, with European deliveries expected in the fall of 2026.
However, increasing sales does not guarantee profitability. The electric motorcycle division lost $17 million alone in the third quarter, a figure far exceeding its revenue for that period.
Will LiveWire disappear or return to Harley-Davidson?
The situation opens up various possibilities. LiveWire could secure external funding, find an industrial partner, or end up in the hands of another manufacturer interested in its technology and electric platforms.
Another option would be for Harley-Davidson to decide to keep the most promising projects and integrate them back into its own structure, though there are no announcements yet confirming such a move.
What does seem ruled out, at least for now, is Harley-Davidson continuing to cover its subsidiary’s losses indefinitely.