How Ferrous enters the United States
Strategy presentation for Sunita Dhaliwal. Pallas Reid, Kelowna, 14 September 2027. One decision: choose the route.
Sell in the United States without becoming a discount brand
You asked us where Ferrous should stand when it reaches American dealers and riders in March 2028, and what that position must not cost you at home.
Canada is 91 percent of Ferrous revenue, and the home market has flattened at about 4,100 bikes a year. The American market is larger, but the two brands that entered it last did so on price and have not recovered their margin.
We surveyed 1,240 US e-MTB owners, interviewed 18 dealers across Colorado, Utah and Oregon, and read two years of your warranty claims. If we have the brief wrong, tell us before you read the rest.
Route A: fastest down the mountain
Compete on descent times and specification. Quick to understand, and dealers like it. The consequence: you meet three better-funded brands on their ground, with CPMs we'd expect to run 30 to 40 percent above your Canadian rate.
Route B: the trail builders' bike
Earn trust through local trail associations and creators. It builds real loyalty, and it scales slowly: about 40 chapters to reach the dealer coverage you need, so we'd expect 18 months before it pays back.
Route C: one bike, ten years (recommended)
Own durability, with a ten-year frame warranty, parts for every model and open service data. Your warranty record already supports it. The consequence: an extra reserve of about CA$38 per bike, and a slower first quarter.
How route C answers the brief
We recommend route C. It holds price, gives dealers a reason to stock Ferrous, and rests on evidence you already have.
It protects your margin
A durability claim gives riders a reason to pay full price. Owners who ranked long-term parts supply first accepted a price about 11 percent higher than the rest of the sample in our survey.
It gives dealers a reason
Fourteen of the 18 dealers we interviewed named parts availability as their main complaint about e-MTB brands. A guaranteed parts catalogue and open service data solve a problem they raised unprompted.
It is already true
Your frame claim rate is 0.7 percent across two years. Route C needs no reinvention, only a warranty you can afford. It does need engineering to confirm the ten-year term before anything is published.
The numbers it moves
Survey of 1,240 US e-MTB owners, June 2027. Revenue figures are route C planning targets, assuming 22 dealers by April 2028, and we'd revise them after the pilot.
What owners rank first when replacing a bike
Percent of US owners surveyed
US revenue target by quarter, 2028
CA$ thousands, route C plan
What happens after you choose
The sequence holds for any route. If you choose A or B, the dates stay and the content of each step changes.
Engineering confirms the warranty
By Friday 24 September, your head of engineering signs off the ten-year term and the CA$38 reserve. Without that, route C doesn't go ahead.
Messaging framework, 4 October
Positioning, proof points and claims language, reviewed by your US counsel before any creative work begins.
Channel and media plan, 1 November
Budget split across search, creators and dealer co-op, with CAC and MER targets. Media budget stays separate from our fee.
Colorado and Utah pilot, 10 January
Eight dealers and an incrementality test in two states, eight weeks ahead of the March 2028 launch.
Your decision by Monday 20 September
If you decide by then, the March 2028 launch holds. A later choice moves the pilot and the launch by the same number of days. If you prefer route A or B, tell Anneke and we'll reissue this page.
Prepared by
Anneke Pallas Partner, Pallas Reid
Bernard Avenue, Kelowna BC anneke@pallasreid.ca
For approval by
Sunita Dhaliwal VP Marketing, Ferrous Bikes
We've held Thursday 16 September for a call with you and Marcel Gagnon, your head of engineering, if you want to go through it.
Approve route C
By confirming, you approve route C, one bike, ten years, as the direction for the US entry, subject to engineering sign-off by 24 September 2027. The signed fee of CA$86,400 does not change, and we start the messaging framework on 4 October.