Here’s some news we missed months back, because it wasn’t really publicized at all. After months of talking about a motorcycle factory in British Columbia, Damon Motorcycles now says it plans to assemble its machines in California.
The news comes from a Reddit post, not a press release. Last winter, Redditors were speculating about the company’s health after what seemed to be a round of layoffs. In that thread (see here) a Redditor under the name jaygiraud (Damon’s CEO is Jay Giraud) posted:
We’re shifting production to our facility in California when we’re ready to start production, which is delayed due to some challenges in 2022. The building here in Vancouver proved to be too expensive and unfortunately the Gov of Canada and BC are not providing any support to create jobs. US is WAY more supportive in that regard. If you’re a reservation holder, you’ve got an email in your inbox providing details. Thanks for your support! Making something from nothing is about the most challenging thing there is, but man is it worth it. All the best
Jay
If that Reddit post is legit, and it sure appears to be—so much for the 110,000 square-foot facility that was planned in Surrey! As for the hundreds of office staff and production line workers that Damon said it would hire in British Columbia, it would seem many of those jobs would also be moving to the US. It’s also worth noting that Damon seems to have gone through layoffs last winter, if you dig around Glassdoor reviews. Perhaps that makes sense, if plans are changing!
Whatever the story is, it seems Canadian motorcyclists will still have to wait for a true made-in-Canada bike, as the new Can-Am street-legal models are going to be built in Mexico, and now Damon is also planning to build machines elsewhere. Not that most of us could have afforded them anyway…
As a former SoCal local I can tell you that NO business can operate in the Golden State and
hope to be profitable. The exodus of people and business to Texas, Tennesee ETC ETC must
not have reached the Damon management and finance people. Vancouver of course is not
the answer either….
Whatever –
Verge Motorcycles has named Mark Wilson, who has served as an advisor on the Verge Motorcycles Advisory Board since March, as CFO. In this position, Wilson will oversee the growth of the company’s international business.
Wilson is a deeply experienced executive in the automotive industry, having most recently served as EVP & CFO for Aston Martin Lagonda Plc and formerly McLaren Automotive. He has more than 20 years of experience in the automotive industry and has accumulated strong expertise in raising funding and growing international operations. The appointment comes at a critical time for Verge, which is just beginning to expand its operations into both the U.S. market and globally.
Mark Wilson, who has served as an advisor on the Verge Motorcycles Advisory Board since March, has been named CFO of the electric motorcycle company. Photo courtesy of Verge
“Verge’s unique innovation, state-of-the-art design and ambitious vision is attracting enormous interest amongst international investors despite the challenging economic environment,” Wilson says. “This is a pivotal moment for the company as it scales up to meet growing customer demand globally. With an order book running well into next year, Verge is primed to exert leadership in the electric superbike category. I’m thrilled to join such an exciting and dynamic business.”
“Mark Wilson’s strong expertise and long experience in the auto industry is extremely valuable to Verge, especially at this stage of our growth,” says Marko Lehtimäki, chief technology officer at Verge. “The company’s order book is growing at an accelerating pace, and with the help of future funding rounds, the company intends to ensure that delivery capacity is increased to meet the demand. Mark has unparalleled experience in all of these areas. The company is now entering a new era.”
Vapourware. A grift. A scam. Scumbags chasing grant money and stealing deposits from gullible motorcycle buyers.. Was never going to exist and still won’t. It’s a pure lie.
I’m a little less skeptical than you, but only a little. I feel like electric bikes are at least a decade or two from being practical. I suppose as briefly-enjoyed toys, sure, but as a sport bike/canyon carver – where I live it’s at least an hour to get to any roads worthy of a modern sport bike. Now, if this had a sweet triple power plant, I’d be interesting. I think it looks fantastic, but as you say, it’ll probably never happen.
“Oh look Mommy, another overpriced electric motorcycle company !”
Who cares…