Indian Again: An interview with Stephen Julius (5/24/2007)
		In the decade that followed the founding of Indian in 1901, it became the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, dominating America's race tracks and holding more than a 30 percent market share against dozens of other U.S. brands. Not surprisingly, one of its corporate logos was the face of a laughing Indian. After production ceased at Springfield in 1953, Floyd Clymer penned an editorial in Cycle Magazine in April, 1954, deploring the collapse of this great American motorcycle manufacturer. He illustrated that editorial with a weeping Indian – a parody of the famous laughing Indian logo – and the fate of the brand has pretty much been a trail of tears ever since. The Indian name has been plastered on the gas tanks of everything from motorcycles with obsolete British engines to mini-bikes made it Taiwan. One entrepreneur who promised investors he would make Indian motorcycles ended up affixing the logo only on clothing, cigars, and banjos. With great fanfare, the brand has been resurrected time and again by under-achievers, over-reachers, and outright felons. We have opined more than once at Motohistory that Indian should be left to rest in peace, not because we don't want to see new Indians on the road, but because we don't want to see any more abortive attempts that only further tarnishes the marquee. With collapse of the large-scale Indian venture at Gilroy, California in the late 1990s, we thought the sad trail might finally have come to an end. But in 2000 the trademark and assets were acquired by London-based Stellican, Ltd., an international company with holdings in the U.S., Great Britain, Italy, and Spain that claims expertise in resurrecting classic brands through superior management, attention to quality, and strategic positioning toward upscale markets. One example of Stellican's work is the revival of the famous American Chris-Craft line of power boats, acquired when Outboard Marine Corporation went bankrupt in 2000. Stellican was founded in 1991 by Stephen M. Julius, an Oxford and Harvard educated entrepreneur who is personally shepherding the effort to bring a new Indian motorcycle to market as early as the 2008 model year. In the coming months, Mr.. Julius (pictured here) and his team will no doubt be scrutinized closely by their critics and competitors in the motorcycle industry, and the technically-oriented magazines will have plenty to say about their motorcycles. At Motohistory, we are more interested in the legacy and the problems that arise from that legacy having been abused. We wanted to learn from Mr.. Julius how he hopes to bring Indian's trail of tears to a happy ending. Motohistory: Mr.. Julius, thanks for granting us an interview. We expect time is something you have in short supply at the moment. First let's talk about the acquisition of the Gilroy company. To what extent did it meet or fall short of Stellican's criteria for acquisition? What were the most and least attractive aspects of the opportunity? Stephen Julius: Indian Motorcycle met the key criterion of having an iconic, heritage brand which still has tremendous brand awareness amongst consumers, especially 40-plus. Brands such as Indian Motorcycle cannot be created overnight. Testimony to the power of the brand is that nearly 45 years of being dormant, the brand name is still so well known. Our philosophy is that if one can produce a high quality, beautifully designed product which matches the promise of the brand, one has a very powerful commercial proposition. MH: Stellican acquired both Chris-Craft and Indian in close proximity, and you have personally directed the revival of both companies. Has there been any concern about overextending yourself or your capital resources? SJ: Re-starting businesses is always hard work, but immensely satisfying. Having a great management team is the only way to succeed and I am privileged in having a great colleague, Steve Heese. We are also fortunate in the timing since we re-launched Chris-Craft in 2001 and the company is now 6 years ahead of Indian in terms of product development, sales, profitability, and dealer network. Because Chris-Craft is now stabilized and profitable, we can focus on Indian. The two companies are at two very different stages of development. Were we re-launching both at the same time, we would be concerned at overextending ourselves. MH: We understand that at the moment, Indian's staff at King's Mountain, North Carolina is about 80 percent engineers, and you have stated that the new Indians will use the Powerplus 100 engine developed by the Gilroy company. To what extent will the re-engineered products be different from the Gilroy models, in chassis and in power train? What about appearance? How will the new Indian depart cosmetically? SJ: From an engineering standpoint, the engine and chassis will be significantly improved since we are aware of the many problems which beset the Gilroy company and we are addressing these issues. The appearance will build on the look of the Gilroy models since it is clear to us that people loved the look but found the quality poor. MH: Your Indian web site quotes a Dakota proverb: “We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.” This seems almost to be a self-challenge. As you know, the tracks left by those exploiting the Indian brand since the collapse of the original Springfield manufacturing company have not been good. They have left what we call “a trail of tears.” What is your plan to overcome the record and re-establish credibility? Especially, how do you do this in finding businessmen willing to invest in dealerships and franchises? SJ: The only way we will establish credibility is by designing and building high quality, reliable motorcycles backed up by service from a caring dealer network. It will not happen overnight because all power sport products are complex to make and support. However, the tracks we leave will be no more and no less than the quality of what we make over time. MH: In researching this venture, did you read Dan Hanlon's book about the rise and fall of his family's Excelsior-Henderson company? How does your business model differ from that of Gilroy Indian or the Hanlons? SJ: I did read Hanlon's book and much else. I traveled the world interviewing and visiting most of the major motorcycle companies outside of China and India and tried to learn from companies which succeeded and companies which did not, especially Indian. MH: What do you view as your competition? Harley-Davidson? Victory? Or are you trying to create an entirely new niche? In that regard, can you describe the demographic profile of the new Indian customer? SJ: Initially at Chris-Craft, we kept talking about the competition. But 6 years later, we have created our own following and we look over our shoulder a little less. We have a particular design and quality and price point which is attractive to a particular segment which we try to foster. The same will be true with Indian. Obviously it is difficult not to at least look and learn from Harley which had 61% of heavy cruisers over 900 cc in 2006 and is the dominant player in the USA. The development of Victory is highly instructive. However I believe that Indian owners have a very different set of traits to Harley and Victory owners: they are people who want an authentic American brand with heritage but want to own a bike which is different. MH: Finally, can you tell us when and under what circumstances the new Indian will be introduced? SJ: The real answer is that Indian will introduce its products when it is ready. We will only have one chance left at doing this and we had better get it (mostly) right. We estimate the first half of 2008.