India Infoline and Moneycontrol India are reporting that LML has signed an agreement with workers and production will resume “shortly,” focusing on scooters for the export market (Stellas!).
7 thoughts on “LML: soon?”
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When scooter news breaks, we put it under a tarp in the garage.
India Infoline and Moneycontrol India are reporting that LML has signed an agreement with workers and production will resume “shortly,” focusing on scooters for the export market (Stellas!).
Comments are closed.
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Has Genuine said they’re going to sell Stellas again? From a marketing standpoint, it’s kinda tough to bring something back from the dead, especially given the qualify issues with the last of the Stellas…
I agree…and what, if at all, is the ETA for the US Market? There has been much speculation amongst Stella enthusiasts but no real substance. If this supposed “resurrection” does happen…I’ll be first in line.
I’d bet Genuine keeps mum until they have a batch on a boat.
Man, if they do come back, I’d want one.
Genuine hasn’t said anything, and probably won’t, Indian news reports are generally comically optimistic, but LML is rumored to have a large standing order for more Stellas (and many nearly-complete Stellas on the floor already), and seeing “Export markets” in both reports made it apparent that they’re targeting Europe (LML Star), the US (Genuine Stella), NZ (Belladonna), and their African markets. Remember, they have no competition at all from Bajaj or Piaggio in the P-series lookalike market, and for that matter, no worldwide competition for geared 2-stroke scooters.
The Stella’s quality issues are probably largely due to LML’s labor/financial situation, and may or may not disappear if LML gets their act together. Skepticism is justified, but I imagine quality will improve over time, and it was never flat-out Chinese-style atrocious.
It will indeed be interesting to see how quality compares to the Stellas sold here prior to the shutdown. If they come back, I would love the chance to own one. Especially if they offer it in robin’s egg blue with a 200cc engine.
Can someone please elaborate on the quality issues?
Was it the 2005 year that had these issues?
The conventional wisdom (and it may just be perception or hearsay) seems to be that the last batch of Stellas imported had more problems than earlier batches. I’m guessing those would have been sold in late 05 and early 06. Presumably, the disgruntled workforce started slacking off and possibly different suppliers were used. I’m sure someone else could elaborate with specific things to look for.
Bryan