Piaggio reported yesterday that first-9-months profits were up 20.4% over 2005 and sales were up 60% in the U.S. (compared to 2005) Is that increase a result of Piaggio’s marketing genius, or expensive gas? 2SB reader jrldg has re-sparked an old discussion and points out Piaggio’s stock has risen over €3 per share. Piaggio’s showing at the EICMA is impressive, and maybe they are starting to get their act together in America, but I’ll stand by my argument that it’s mostly lucky timing.
3 thoughts on “Piaggio sales up 60% in the U.S.”
Comments are closed.
Also, was Sabelli’s departure a sign of change or just another example of rampant executive turnover? Or was it actually “personal reasons?” Discuss.
I would be there are lots of pressures that could influence execs leaving. From trying to hide a scandal to just being tired of it and wanting to enjoy all the money you made would be reasons I think are just as likely as some up and coming execs pushing them out from below with their new fangled ideas of profit and “growth”.
PIAGGIO SALES UP 60% – That’s a bogus figure leading you to believe 60% more people bought Piaggio scooters in the US than last year. Piaggio may have sold 60% more units….to DEALERS. Piaggio signed on 28 Arctic Cat dealers at 25+ units each in the past 6 months. That’s an immediate increase of at least 700 units. Let’s see how many of those Arctic Cat dealers are still Vespa dealers one year from now. They have also opened up dealerships to folks (like me) who would have never been able to meet their unrealistic dealership standards before. Each of these new dealers bought at least 25 units as well. Don’t get me wrong, they’re selling more units, and they are growing. They still need to work harder to tempt us. Every day containers full of cheaper (and increasingly good quality) scooters show up on our shores. The price gap is only getting wider. Major players like Piaggio and Kymco need to step it up. Why is there still no nationwide TV campain for Piaggio/Vespa/Kymco etc. ? Because the manufacturers only need to sell to the dealers. They’re not seeing all the way to the customer.