Savic seeks backing for its next chapter
Savic Motorcycles is seeking a buyer, investor or industrial partner to help expand the business, opening a new chapter for an Australian motorcycle manufacturer that has spent a decade turning an ambitious idea into a production motorcycle.
Founder Dennis Savic is no longer directly involved in the company that bears his name. Under CEO Marc Alexander, the business is now seeking the capital, manufacturing capacity, and international market access needed to take its C-Series and the technology behind it further.
The announcement also brings a familiar Australian manufacturing problem into focus. Developing a vehicle here is one achievement. Finding a commercially sustainable way to build it in meaningful numbers is another.
For Savic, that has already meant establishing part of its manufacturing operation offshore, with a company-owned subassembly facility in Taizhou, China, supporting its continuing activities in West Melbourne.
A familiar challenge for Australian manufacturing
Ford ended Australian car production in 2016, followed by Holden and Toyota in 2017. The losses extended well beyond the assembly lines, affecting component suppliers, specialist businesses and the skilled workforce that had supported local vehicle production for generations.
The history is more complicated than subsidies simply being switched off and the factories closing. Ford had announced its departure in May 2013, citing high manufacturing costs and a fragmented market. Industry assistance continued during the wind-down, but it did not prevent the closures.
Whatever view one takes of those policy decisions, Australia lost a substantial part of its ability to turn local vehicle engineering into local production. Suppliers lost major customers, workers lost jobs, and the industrial base available to the next generation of manufacturers became smaller.
Savic’s circumstances are different, but the question of scale is familiar. A small manufacturer must find a way to fund development, source components and build a competitively priced product while establishing demand. Australian engineering talent alone cannot solve all of those problems.
Australian engineering, international manufacturing
Savic’s response has been to combine Australian development and motorcycle production with access to overseas manufacturing and component supply chains.
The Taizhou operation supports SM1 powertrain parts and Australian-designed components. Savic says the arrangement is intended to improve cost, capacity and speed while retaining control of its technology, product and customer relationships.
Going offshore for part of that work has therefore become part of Savic’s route towards production at greater scale. It is a telling development for a company founded with the ambition of creating an Australian electric motorcycle.
West Melbourne remains central to the business. According to the announcement, the headquarters continues to support engineering, research and development, motorcycle production, deliveries, test rides and customer operations.
The next partner is being sought for more than funding. Manufacturing expertise, supply-chain capability, distribution and access to international markets are all part of the proposition.
Marc Alexander – Savic Motorcycles CEO
“The first decade was about proving that an Australian company could develop, engineer and commercially deliver a high-performance EV motorcycle. We have done that. The opportunity now is scaling the technology, multi-model product platform, brand and commercial capability that we have built.”
A new chapter without the founder
MCNews reported the appointment of Marc Alexander as CEO and a $2 million funding round in December 2025. At that point, Dennis Savic retained a strategic role through the board. He is now no longer directly involved.
There is a connection to Australia’s wider automotive story in Dennis’s own background. Before founding Savic Motorcycles in 2016, he worked as an engineer at Ford Australia on the Everest programme.
Our 2023 first ride of the C-Series prototype included an extensive interview with Dennis about developing the motorcycle and building the business around it.
Kris Hodgson came away impressed by the prototype’s smooth power delivery, ease of operation and planted road manners, while noting that development remained ongoing.
Customer deliveries eventually commenced in 2025, according to the latest announcement. The development programme included Australian Design Rules compliance, testing at Phillip Island and Lang Lang, and work with Bosch Australia on ABS integration.
The C-Series has therefore made the difficult transition from prototype to customer motorcycle. The challenge now is building a larger business around that achievement.
More than one motorcycle
Savic is presenting prospective partners with the technology developed alongside the C-Series, including its SM1 powertrain, vehicle controls, software, displays, mobile applications and cloud connectivity.
The company says it owns the technology it has developed and sees opportunities for additional motorcycles, urban mobility and utility applications. No new production model or launch timetable has been announced as part of this process.
Marc Alexander – Savic Motorcycles CEO
“We have reached a point where the opportunity is much larger than one motorcycle. We have product in market, technology we own, an experienced team and a platform designed to support additional products and applications. The right strategic partner can help scale that capability substantially faster.”
An acquisition, strategic investment or industrial partnership could each form the basis of the next stage. No buyer or partner has been named, and no completed deal, valuation or transaction timetable has been disclosed.
There is something familiar, and disappointing, in seeing another Australian vehicle maker look overseas for the manufacturing capacity needed to grow. There is also a practical argument for an arrangement that keeps Australian engineering and product development in the business while enabling greater production volumes.
Interested parties are being directed to Savic’s strategic transaction information page to engage with the leadership team.
