International – Page 16

Piaggio will not privatize

Ducati Motor Holding has announced plans to buy out shareholders at a 23% premium and take Ducati private. According to Forbes, this news drove up Piaggio stocks, though Piaggio asserted today that they have no intention of following Ducati’s lead. 56.5% of Piaggio shares are held by IMMSI SpA, Piaggio chairman/CEO Roberto Colaninno’s holding company.

(See comments, I originally totally mangled this story and reported that Ducati was threatening to buy out Piaggio stockholders. I blame Forbes for writing confusing sentences.)

Paris’ MP3 taxi service

Motoblog reports Parisian entrepreneurs Ludovic Dazin and Remi Flesselles have launched “Nip Bike,” a Paris taxi service using Piaggio MP3 scooters.

Bajaj wins DTSi case

An Indian court has blocked TVS Motor from manufacturing or selling their Flame 125. Bajaj feels the Flame’s twin-spark ignition system is a copy of their DTSi system.

Brush with Vespa bandits

A first-hand account of a run-in with Sicilian “Vespa Bandits.”

Bajaj sales down

Following recent news that Italian scooter sales have dropped, Bajaj Auto’s January report shows a 15% drop in two-wheeler sales. More astonishing: In 2000, Bajaj sold close to 800,000 Chetaks, if we’re reading this data correctly, only 1,100 of the 1,66,492 two-wheelers they sold in January are scooters (presumably Kristals, their only current model). All you readers who wonder why we cover Bajaj might have a point. (TradingMarkets.com)

Italian sales down, under-50ccs up in January

An Italian industry association reported yesterday that over-50cc new scooter registrations dropped 7.7 percent (25,896 units registered) in January, but 50cc registrations are up 9.7% (7,838 units registered). Motorcycle sales also suffered, dropping 11.9% (9601 units registered). (Forbes)

In arder t0 instal Pinasco PX/Rally performances…

P!nasco’s instrcutions on the line for perf0rmances kIt install appears to been mutiIated by bo1th machInes trans1ati0r *and* by the text recognizer soft war e. (Thanks, Matty)

Chinese automobile logo rip-offs

Everyone keeps saying “sooner or later, China will get their act together and dominate the market,” which is probably true, and every U.S. importer wants to believe they’ve found the only good Chinese manufacturer, but here’s a clue about what we’re dealing with there for now.

“Andretti” scooters

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The latest in scooter badge engineering: PSF’s Andretti Scooters.

Yes, that Andretti.Purchase Point Media Corporation, who recently bought Power Sports Factory, (who sells Chinese-made “Yamati” and “Strada” scooters) has licensed auto-racing legend Mario Andretti’s name for a line of scooters. Continue reading ““Andretti” scooters”

Piaggio steps up Asian operations, hybrids due late 2008

Bobby and Ravi, together again

Roberto Colaninno (CEO of Piaggio) and Ravi Chopra (Director of Piaggio Vehicles Private Limited, India) at the wrap party of their remake of “The Bucket List.” No, not really. Photo courtesy of Piaggio.

At a press event in Mumbai today, Piaggio announced plans to re-enter the Indian scooter market, focusing on manufacturing hybrids for the local market by 2010. The press release states that the company will be selling Vespa/Piaggio hybrids in Europe by the end of this year.

Piaggio has been producing 3- and 4-wheeled utility vehicles in India for years, but has avoided the crowded scooter market. The press release also lists new agreements with partners and suppliers, and hints at more. It also outlines their operations in China (a partnership with Zongshen Group, making Piaggios for local and world markets), Vietnam (a new factory manufacturing scooters for local markets), and Japan (a new importer/distributor).

$2500 Tata Nano

The big news today, of course, is the launch of India’s Tata Motors’ $2500 Nano automobile. That’s right, India is building cars (there are more on the way from other makers, including a possible Renault/Bajaj collaboration) that cost half as much as a new Vespa. And Tata, who you’ve probably never heard of until this week, is a rapidly-growing superpower with steel, manufacturing, automotive, industrial, and hotel resources. The company is currently in the process of acquiring the pride of their former imperialist conqueror, Land Rover/Jaguar, from Ford Motor Co.

Ratan Tata, quoted in a press release, described the origins of the car:

I observed families riding on two-wheelers–the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby. It lead me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family.

Citroen 2cv brochures

A link stolen from my day job: Nicely-designed Citroen brochures from the ’60s.

LML (and ACMA?) back in France

The LML Star (aka Genuine Stella) is back on the market in France and the Scooter Station interviewed the French importer (in French, here’s a translation). Interesting, especially the talk of the revival of the ACMA name.

Vespa Attack 3

Speaking of the PI, our friend Jordan Cinco has just returned from the Philippines where he helped organize the third annual Vespa Attack rally. Congratulations to 2sb jersey winner Clifford Certeza (above), president of the Euroscoot SC, who is now also the president and sole member of the the Merciless Tigers’ Pacific Rim supporters club. As always, the stories and rally photos are incredible, and 2sb was proud to be a sponsor, but we would have much rather been a participant. Maybe next year.

Check out photos from the 2sb Gallery, Who Rides a Vespa, Jordan’s Flickr, Vexel9’s flickr, kap42no’s flickr, Vespinoy, and the Sexy Times Crew.

Vespa bicycle mounts?

Some ideas how to mount a bicycle to your Vespa compiled by the new president of the Vespa Club of the Philippines. (Congrats, John!) I’d think if you were doing a side-mount, you’d want the bike on the left to offset the weight of the engine, which already makes a Vespa/Stella right-heavy, but I’m not an engineer nor a cyclist.