Energica continues its expansion in the United States with a new commercial agreement in the key market of California, with Pro Italia Motors. This new Energica motorcycle dealer in Glendale, California is in a key location for the Los Angeles area, with over 10 million inhabitants and third-largest metropolitan economy in the world.
Southern California is also a unique point of convergence for two very relevant consumer markets to Energica: electric vehicles and motorcycles, particularly in the premium segments.
In addition to being the leading state for electric vehicles, California for decades has also enjoyed nation’s largest motorcycle-owning population with 10% of all U.S. riders residing there. Thanks to an unusual California state law that permits lane-splitting for motorcycles, the proportion of daily commuters on two wheels is higher there than anywhere else in the country.
Six out of ten electric vehicles in the U.S. are in driven by Californians, which today are 5.5% of all registered passenger vehicles in the state, versus less than 2% for the country overall. EV sales in California consistently outpace every other state in the Union, and are growing more quickly than conventional cars. 2019 EV sales in the U.S. have dropped 9% but grew in California by 5% in 2019 – where conventional new ICE sales have actually declined by 5.5%. Similarly, California has today almost 26,000 EV charging outlets – a third of all those in the United States; and is investing $2.1 billion in expanding that network to support an ambitious goal to replace over 5 million internal combustion vehicles in the state with electric by 2050.
“California is where our U.S. headquarters is based precisely because this is the epicenter of new technology and electric, and also the largest and most vital motorcycle market. We know that with these two latent strengths side-by-side, it’s just a matter of time before the impetus towards electric cars translates to motorcycles.” stated Stefano Benatti, CEO, Energica Motor Company Inc. “And if this is true for California, it’s even more so for Southern California and specifically Los Angeles.”
ProItalia is ideally suited to take advantage of this imminent expansion of electric into the two-wheeled segment. Since its founding in 1987 by local motorcycle enthusiasts, Pro Italia has been the hub of Italian motorcycle culture in Southern California. For over three decades, Pro Italia has prided itself on providing customers with top level motorcycle sales and the highest level of service.
Dealer principal Bill Nation and his long-time partners are strongly supportive and excited about the new opportunity. As Bill Nation points out: “We’ve always specialized above all in premium Italian marques, so it makes perfect sense for us to add the preeminent Italian electric motorcycle company to our line-up. And if there is one thing that recent events have shown in L.A. as roads have emptied and the skies and the air have cleared up, the impetus to adopt electric is very likely going to accelerate.”
“As a long-time rider and motorcycle enthusiast, I especially appreciate the amazing acceleration and absolutely linear torque that these electric bikes offer,” continued Mr. Nation: “And I have no doubt that as more and more avid motorcyclists get a chance to ride these bikes, they will agree with us.”