Guido Ebert apparently dug deeper into Piaggio’s 1H 2010 financial reports than we did, the mildly encouraging press release (28% improvement in global profit for the first half of 2010 on the strength of Indian and Vietnamese sales) fails to mention a frightening drop in the U.S. market: a 76.7% drop in 2-wheeler sales in the first half of the year (3,100 units in 1H 2010, down from 13,200 in 2009).
5 thoughts on “PiaggioUSA: 75% drop in 1H 2010 unit sales”
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And remember, 2009 was no 2008 for the scooter industry.
More dealers out of business from 2009 means fewer dealers upon which to force inventory and claim the units as ‘sales’.
I can see it as a positive in that this will be a more realistic number from which to compare 2011 numbers. The remaining dealers may be much more stable and changes in sales numbers may be meaningful to gauge the health of the scooter market. If part of those 13,200 are still being sold by dealers, as 2 year back-log of liquidation inventory filters through the active dealers, the 2010 numbers maybe artificially low and the 2011 artificially high, assuming stable demand over the two years. But it’s probably more stable than 2008 to 2009 and over following years the numbers could be come something to rely on in terms of accuracy. This is also assuming Piaggio doesn’t continue to deliver inventory to outlets that can’t move the units.
Maybe this bad news will force Piaggio to offer better terms to their (remaining) dealers. That or they’ll just pack up and leave the US market…again.
Really good point, Brooke, it’s a fact that they count a bike as “sold” when the dealer takes delivery, not when the dealer sells it. So the 2009 numbers were almost certainly far higher than actual sales (to customers) and they’re paying the price on the books now, I suppose.
Simple fact is now they’re counting negatives, warehouses near failed dealers are stocked with hundreds of now extremely dated ’09 scooters. Warehousing and logistics are currently running up a tab that will cut deeper next year. America has lost it’s taste for $500 top cases, $400 front fenders and $300 tire change/oil services every 3000 miles. Even with their corporate website announcing $1200 off new scooters (on the backs of already stressed dealers) we haven’t seen folks coming in and asking for the product. Hard times have teamed up with consumer guilt to strike a blow at most luxury items. What’s selling? USED.