During a press Q&A session, Indian Motorcycle’s new CEO Mike Kennedy answered a question about whether the company is working on an entry-level bike. He refused and threw water on the electric car.
These days, you’d be hard-pressed to look for a motorcycle manufacturer and not find an entry-level motorcycle. After all, this is the hottest segment of the industry, and it’s not hard to see why in a sluggish economy, worker wages are stagnating while inflation is soaring and nearly everything costs a trillion dollars. Small bikes are cheap to buy, insure, and repair, so they make perfect sense.
Hell, even Harley-Davidson is getting in on the trend in 2026.
So you might be surprised to hear that Indian Motorcycles, which just went through a change of ownership and is looking to grow further after splitting from Polaris, isn’t putting up a tree. In fact, when Separate by car When I asked new CEO Mike Kennedy about the future, specifically entry-level motorcycles, he said an emphatic “no” to entry-level small-displacement motorcycles. However, the future depends on India’s advantage, which is India’s past.
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“So, the U.S. road motorcycle market is down 6.5% in 2025. India’s market share has grown. Touring motorcycle market share has grown. Cruiser market share has grown. And by the way, there’s a lot of market share to be gained, right? So when I analyze the market and say only $6,000 bikes are selling, that’s not true. That’s not the case. Again, we have bikes that sell for under $10,000 For $, it’s a very accessible bike.” Kennedy responded to our questions about his claim to focus on mid- and heavy-duty cruisers, baggers, tourers, and upcoming three-wheelers.
He added, “By the way, one thing we don’t talk about a lot, as an OEM, we don’t talk about a lot, but used products are a great gateway for riders to get into the brand. But it’s not really an entry-level motorcycle because the price alone doesn’t make it entry-level,” he added. Separate by car countered by asking Indian how to attract new riders, those who may not be familiar with motorcycles, and those who are first-time motorcycle owners.
His answer was that, basically, Hindi was not for them. But the brand’s push for licensing and merchandise may be.
Indian x RVSO series
“We’re not going to be entry-level motorcycles because of size,” Kennedy said, adding, “Yeah, I have a daughter, she’s a nurse. She has a motorcycle license. She was riding my 101 Scout the other day, and she’s a small person, right? She can ride a motorcycle. But there’s no way she’s riding that 101 Scout. It’s too physically demanding for her. So we’re not the answer to that. “Unfortunately, I think we’re an aspirational brand, and one of the things that the Carolwood team is really interested in is what can we do in terms of apparel and licensing to make the brand desirable to a wider audience so that when people come in, maybe other brands or other second-hand brands, they see the Indian line as an aspirational brand. “
When asked if India sees itself as a Porsche or Lamborghini-style aspirational brand, Kennedy told Separate by car“Yeah, I don’t like Lamborghinis. I’m going to reject that one [laughs]. But I understand where you’re going. BTW, if I could do everything under the sun, would I want a $6,000 bike with a smaller frame, 650cc or 750cc? Of course I do. Absolutely. But it would distract the company. In this case, I think the most important thing is that there is a huge market share for mid-size and heavy-duty cruisers, baggers and tourers from a business management perspective and from a growing rider perspective. So that we can continue to grow, we can continue to increase our share [of those markets]”.
“But at the end of the day, when we develop our product strategy, our focus is on our DNA, our styling cues,” Kennedy concluded. “Currently, those are Indian’s cruisers, baggers and touring machines.
So if you’re holding out hope for FTR’s resurgence, you might as well stop holding your breath.
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